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THE 


LIFE AND TIMES 

OF 


HIE N Z1. 

/ 


LONDON: 

WHITTAKER AND CO., AYE-MARIA LANE. 


MOCCCXXXVI. 




LONDON : 

BRADEURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, 
WHITEFRIARS. 





ADVERTISEMENT. 


Miss Mitford’s Tragedy, and Mr. Bulwer’s 
Novel, have awakened a desire in the public, 
to know something of the real history of Rienzi. 
The work now republished, was written by 
Father Cerceau, a distinguished Jesuit of the 
early part of the eighteenth century, and found 
at his death among his papers. The MS. was 
revised, perfected, and published by Father 
Brumoy, a still more celebrated man. It has 
always been considered as a work of authority, 
and even Gibbon appears to have relied on it 
without further research. Fhe general outline 
was probably furnished by an Italian life, writ¬ 
ten by a contemporary of Rienzi’s; but it is 




IV 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


stated in the Preface, in the edition of which 
this is a repnblication, that, in addition, the 
records and manuscripts of the Vatican were 
examined, and many curious and important cir¬ 
cumstances, many original papers, letters from 
popes, princes, and more especially from Rienzi 
himself, were discovered and added. As a record 
of facts, therefore, the work will, it is presumed, 
be acceptable to the public. The spirit in which 
it is written is indeed that of a past age — the 
very title of the original work (Conjuration de 
Nicolas Gabrini , dit de Rienzi, tyran de Rome) 
denotes a foregone conclusion. But the reader 
who shall turn to it warm with enthusiasm from 
Mr. BulwePs splendid prose epic, will be in a 
right temper to judge of the man by his actions, 
and not by the comments of a biographer. 


THE 


CONSPIRACY OF GABRINI. 


BOOK I. 

The scenes which passed at Rome within the 
space of seven years, from 1347 to 1354, and which 
drew the attention of all Europe, formed by their 
continuity a sort of tragi-comedy so singular, as was 
never acted on the theatre of the world; none ever 
came up to it either in regard to its causes and 
courses, its circumstances and plot, or its success and 
discovery. Conspiracies bear in general an exact 
resemblance in history ; every where the same foun¬ 
dation ; every where the same passions, the same 
springs, and the same artifices; there is a still more 
perfect resemblance to be found in particular actions : 
all appear framed upon the same model. Boldness, 
ambition, and malecontent first occasion enterprises; 
rage and interest bind them ; secresy and activity 
conduct them ; and circumstances joined to measures, 

B 



2 


THE CONSPIRACY 



well or ill undertaken, generally cause them to sue- 
ceed or miscarry. The many revolutions occasioned 
by them are brought about underhand and gradually ; 
it must be a work of time to undermine the founda¬ 
tion of lawful authority : at length, when an infinity 
of causes, almost unperceivable, hath brought this 
authority either to the brink of subversion, or to a 
more firm establishment, it is necessary that every 
enterprise of this nature be carried on with a cohe¬ 
rence agreeable to the respective parts of the actors. 

The conspiracy of Rienzi was widely different; the 
secret was a small part, the conduct still less; the 
motion was hasty and sudden; a chimera instantly 
became a reality; the success was happy for the rebel, 
and happy also during the time, for the Sovereign. 
A conspiracy thus extraordinary seemed to me de¬ 
serving of being more known than it had hitherto 
been, and I often wondered that in less than four 
centuries it should in a manner be buried in oblivion. 
The pleasure which the reading an event of such 
variety affords, was not my sole inducement to call 
to remembrance the different passages of those 
authors who have wrote upon it; there was an 
advantage to be gathered from the moral and the 
politics. We have seen conspirators of different 
geniuses attempting to make themselves masters of 
their party and succeed ; but I know of none who 
has engaged in an undertaking like our present sub- 


OF GABRINI. 


3 


ject; it must be acknowledged,,, that the irregularity 
of the means which he made use of to accomplish his 
ends, was alone capable of disconcerting the most 
refined policy and consummate wisdom. 

The personage, whose history I attempt, was not 
one of those heroes whose births are accompanied 
with predictions ; the obscurity of his birth hath 
jwevented us from knowing any thing farther relating 
thereto, than that he was born at Rome, of low ex¬ 
traction, and that his father’s name was Laurence 
Gabrini ; his mother’s Magdalen ; the former was a 
mean vintner, the latter a laundress, and that they 
lived afterwards near the Tiber, opposite to the St. 
Thomas, under the Jews’ Synagogue. These cir¬ 
cumstances, seemingly trifling, are not to be omitted. 
Nicolas Rienzi, or Renzo, (the name he always went 
by) formed not his sentiments agreeable to the 
meanness of his extraction : he became an excellent 
scholar ; and as he had a spirit elevated as his ideas, 
in a very short time he obtained the character of an 
extraordinary person, and merited the esteem and 
friendship of the celebrated Petrarch, his cotem¬ 
porary. As soon as he had learned grammar and 
rhetoric, which improved his natural eloquence, he 
studied antiquity with an uncommon assiduity. 
Every thing he read he compared with similar pas¬ 
sages, that occurred within his own observation, from 
whence he made reflections, by which he regulated 

b 2 


4 


THE CONSPIRACY 


his whole conduct. To all this he added a great 
knowledge in the laws and customs of nations. He 
had a vast memory ; he retained all Cicero, Valerius 
Maximus, Livy, the two Senecas, and Caesar’s Com¬ 
mentaries, especially, which he read continually, and 
often quoted by application to the events of his own 
time. This fund of learning proved the basis and 
foundation of his rise. The desire he had to distin¬ 
guish himself in the knowledge of monumental his¬ 
tory drew him to another sort of science, which few 
men at that time exerted themselves in. He passed 
whole days among the inscriptions which are to be 
found at Rome, and acquired s6on the reputation of 
a great antiquary in that way. But his views were 
not to be confined to the empty name of scholar. 
Arrived at an age when the ways of the world make 
some part of our reflection, he began to form ideas 
of reanimating the Romans with a love of Liberty. 
Young as he yet was, he had an air of gravity, which 
obtained him a kind of veneration, and which gave 
weight to the most minute of his speeches. When¬ 
ever he walked amongst the ruins of ancient Rome, 
he affected an exstacy over some bust or remains of a 
statue, and pretending that he perceived not the crowd 
who were round him, “ Where,” said he, “ are the old 
Romans ?—Where is all their grandeur ? Why lived 
I not in those good times?” Sometimes he ex¬ 
pressed himself in riddles, half sentences, and intricate 


OF GABRINI. 


5 


phrases, and all without appearance of design; he 
discovered not the least notice he took of the im¬ 
pression which his speeches made on the people 
who followed him: his advantageous stature, his 
countenance, and that air of a man of importance, 
which he well knew how to assume, deeply im¬ 
printed all he said in the minds of his audience. 
His frequent repetitions of the words justice, liberty, 
ancient grandeur, which were continually in his 
mouth, made him persuade himself, as well as the 
giddy mob his followers, that he should one day 
become the restorer of the Roman Republic. Not 
content with a name among the populace, he had 
the address to gain a familiarity among the most 
honourable, and insinuate himself into the favour 
of those who were at that time in the adminis¬ 
tration. He had a brother who happened to be 
assassinated ; satisfaction was not given for his death, 
and he resolved to go to Avignon and apply to the 
pope. This journey upon account of the death of 
his brother was mere pretence, his real motive was 
to endeavour to gain confidence with the pope, and 
represent to him in the most pathetic manner the 
situation of affairs at Rome ; he strove to procure a 
title that might render him more recommendable to 
the holy father, and to be appointed deputy, to 
engage (if possible) his holiness to re-establish the 
court of Rome, and his see at the capital of the 


6 


.THE CONSPIRACY. 


world. These deputations seemed so important to 
the Romans, that they let slip no opportunity of 
renewing them. Since the year 1342, the beginning 
of the pontificate of Clement VI., they had sent a 
most solemn embassy to him composed of eighteen 
deputies, six of each of the three states, all chosen 
out of the chief families in Rome. The little suc¬ 
cess they had in their first requests made them fix 
their eyes on Rienzi, and name him for this deputa¬ 
tion, in the same manner they had a few years before 
named Petrarch, as a man of eloquence, and capable 
of making the holy father sensible how prejudicial 
his absence was to the interest of Rome, as well as 
his own. But before we relate in what manner he 
acquitted himself, it may not be improper to give an 
account of the situation of Rome at that time, and 
of the principal persons who open the scenes of this 
history; the interior we leave to come in their 
proper course. 

When Cardinal Peter Roger Limousin was elected 
pope by the name of Clement VI., the pontifical see 
had been fixed at Avignon about thirty-seven years, 
by Bertram d’Agoust, or De Goth, archbishop of 
Bourdeaux, afterwards Pope Clement V., at the 
instigation of Philip the Handsome. This transmi¬ 
gration of the pope, which lasted near threescore 
and ten years, was fatal, if not to the church and 
Christianity in general, at least to Rome, to the 


OF GABRINI. 


7 


patrimony of St. Peter, and to all Italy. The cruel 
factions of the Guelfs and Gibelines, not only 
regained strength to destroy each other, but raised 
new cabals ; the one in aspiring by force to tyranny, 
the other in defending themselves, threw Italy into 
such convulsions, as rendered her difficult to be 
known again. Petrarch, among his letters (pub¬ 
lished without a title) wrote upon this subject to a 
friend the following :— 

“ Hitherto we have gone through the sport only 
of fortune, at this day we feel her fury. O God ! 
send us down again Nero, send us Domitian; their 
persecution will be more open ; a secret poison con¬ 
sumes us, yet attacks less our lives than our courage. 
We have not the power either to live a virtuous life, 
or to die a glorious death. In short, all the fables 
you have read relating to Assyria, Babylon, the 
forest of Tartary, are in effect but a fable compared 
to our hell. Here we see another Nimroth with 
superb towers, another Semiramis, inexorable Minos, 
all-devouring Cerberus, the infamous Pasiphae, and 
the Minotaurs ; in a word, every horror imagination 
can paint. After this description can you believe the 
city the same that you have seen it ? it is at once 
the most wicked and most miserable of cities; the 
resort of devils, the sink of debauchery, and (accord¬ 
ing to the prophet) a hell upon earth.” 

If this celebrated author in his figurative terms 


8 


THE CONSPIRACY 


flew too high, he was however right as to the affairs 
of Rome at that time; all writers agree, that that 
great city was reduced to a most deplorable situa¬ 
tion. Justice was administered no more with free¬ 
dom, the laws were no more put in execution; 
impunity rendered, the guilty more hardened, and 
their outrages more clamorous. The great ones, 
always divided among themselves, agreed only in one 
point, that of deceiving the people, who fell always 
victims to their dissensions. Commerce languished 
at home; foreigners feared to go to Rome, lest on 
their arrival they should be hurt either in their lives 
or effects; the public roads were infested by robbers, 
and the city itself was the retreat of thieves ; churches 
and palaces, destroyed by fire or misfortunes lay, for 
want of money, in ruins. But the greatest proof of 
the misery of Rome will be found in our history. 

Among the Roman nobility who had reduced the 
people to slavery, the two most powerful families 
were those of Colonna and Ursini. The ancient 
feuds between them would not suffer them to live in 
tranquillity in that city. The Colonnas were Gibe¬ 
lines, and the Ursini Guelphs. Their animosities 
w r ere often stifled and stirred up after the absence of 
the popes, who had as much difficulty to pacify as to 
put an entire stop to them, The legate Bertram, 
archbishop of Embrun, could find no better expe¬ 
dient to bring them to a truce, than nominating 


OF GABRINI. 


9 


Peter Colonna and Mathew Ursini governors of 
Rome. Some years after, in the fourth of the pon¬ 
tificate of Clement VI., in which Rienzi was deputed 
for Avignon, their flames broke out again. 

e lement VI. appeared to have no great regard for 
the Romans ; they were not often the objects of his 
thoughts. If Mathew Villani is to be credited :— 
“ This pope was very liberal in bestowing benefices : 
he kept a palace truly royal, a grand table, a great 
number of knights and esquires, and a fine stud of 
horses. He loved to aggrandise his family, and he 
purchased great estates in France for his relations. 
He filled the vacancies in the sacred college with 
those who were young and scarce regular. He 
advanced to the purple others still younger, at the 
solicitations of his friend the king of France. He 
regarded neither learning nor virtue ; ambition was 
sufficient. He was himself very well learned, but 
his behaviour was too free and gay. When he was 
archbishop he frequently passed his time away in 
gallantry among the ladies, and when he afterwards 
came to be pope he could not conceal his inclinations. 
The ladies of distinction entered his apartment as 
freely as the prelates; the Countess de Turenne 
particularly knew so well how to manage him, that 
in a great measure she disposed of his favours. Fie 
squandered away the treasures of the church, while 
the divisions in Italy gave him no concern.” 


10 


THE CONSPIRACY 


I have quoted this character merely to show the 
ill-will the Italians bore Clement VI. I have found 
no other author accusing- him upon account of the 
ladies; they all agree in his profuseness ; his pas¬ 
sion for raising his family, and promoting minors to 
the dignity of cardinals. All extol his popularity 
and clemency. There are no less than six ancient 
histories of his life, in which more mention is made 
of his virtues than his vices. “ The peace of his 
subjects,” says the author of the first, “ was his prin¬ 
cipal study, to procure which he endeavoured at 
nothing more than a good correspondence with the 
sovereign princes of Europe, as is evident by the num¬ 
ber of legates he sent to their respective courts. He 
interfered not in the wars of his neighbours, unless 
the rights of the church compelled him. His pru¬ 
dence in avoiding broils afforded him the more 
leisure to employ himself in the duties of the ponti¬ 
ficate ; he was very exact in holding consistories at 
their appointed time; his name seemed to have 
added to his natural clemency ; so humane he never 
sought revenge on his most inveterate enemies. His 
goodness extended to all who applied to him; it was 
very rare he sent any away without granting their 
petition. He was exceeding bountiful to the poor, 
especially those whose modesty added to their neces¬ 
sities ; he bore constantly in his mind the beatitude, 
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’” 


OF GABRINI. 


11 


To these excellent qualities others add learning-, 
and a memory so prodigious, that whenever he 
thought fit, he could recollect every author that he 
had read. This singular talent, they pretend, was 
occasioned by a wound on his head. 

It is to be observed, that at the commencement of 
his pontificate the Romans demanded of him three 
articles. First, that he should accept for life, not as 
Pope Clement VI. but as Seigneur Peter Roger, the 
offices of Senator, Governor, &c. of the city of Rome. 
Secondly, that he should come and fix at the Lateran 
Church, the mother of all churches, and his proper 
see, so long deprived of the presence of its sovereign 
pontiffs. Thirdly, that he should consider how few 
persons could enjoy the indulgence, granted an 
hundred years since by Bonifice VIII. and reduce it 
therefore to every fiftieth year. The Pope at two 
months end answered their first demand, that he 
accepted of the government of Rome, by nominating 
persons to govern in his name, upon condition of 
their acting no way prejudicial to his sovereignty. 
His journey to Rome and fixing there, he put off 
under several specious pretences ; that he wished it 
with all his heart, but could not at that time under¬ 
take it; the Romans took this as a flat denial, and 
were bitterly chagrined at it. Their third demand 
he agreed to, and published the Bull Unigenitus, 


12 


THE CONSPIRACY 


dated January 27, 1343, in which he granted indul¬ 
gence to the faithful who visited the churches of the 
holy apostles, and St. John the Lateran in the year 
1350, and for the future every fiftieth year to all 
perpetuity. The comparison which Boniface VIII. 
made in his bull with the Jews’ jubilee, gave this 
indulgence ever afterwards the name of jubilee. 

We must observe further, that it was under this 
Pope, that the schism of Germany on the election of 
emperors was prosecuted with great ardour, and 
brought at length great troubles both in the empire 
and the church. Lewis of Bavaria was elected in 
1314 by five electors, and Frederic Duke of Austria 
by the other two. The Gibelines were for the 
former, and the Guelphs for the latter. Pope John 
XXII. issued out many processes against Lewis of 
Bavaria, who on his part penetrated into Rome, 
deposed the pontiff, negociated to no purpose with 
Benedict XII. and continued his hostilities to the 
time of Clement VI. The difference between him 
and the Popes, who looked upon the throne of the 
empire as vacant since Henry of Luxembourg, occa¬ 
sioned many pretensions on both sides. Clement 
VI. pursued the processes of John XXII. against 
the emperor, and pronounced a definite sentence 
against him by a bull dated April 13, 1346. He 
then caused Charles of Luxembourg to be chosen 


OF GABRINI. 


13 


King of the Romans by three electors, having the 
same year signed some compacts with that prince at 
Avignon. 

These troubles, without relating those of Naples 
and Sicily, agitated Italy to such a degree, that the 
governors of Rome particularly seemed to possess 
rather an empty title than a power of making them¬ 
selves obeyed. The discontent at the Pope’s absence, 
and their reiterated denials to quit Avignon, caused 
perhaps a remissness. Stephen Colonna the elder, 
at that time governor of Rome, notwithstanding his 
birth, his credit, and the interest of his numerous 
family, of which he was chief, winked at an infinite 
number of enormities, either through an inability of 
suppressing them, or a fear of adding to the spirits 
of those, who were already too much irritated. 

Raymond, Bishop of Orvieto, Vicar of Clement 
VI. at Rome for spiritual affairs, carried himself in 
much the same manner for the same reasons. He 
was a good prelate, a great canonist, strongly attached 
to the Pope’s interest both spiritual and temporal; 
of an impartiality and integrity that on some occa¬ 
sions proved too delicate; but of a genius unfit for 
government, incapable of deceit, and liable, therefore, 
to be deceived by the artifices of every one who 
pretended the public good, which he had alone in 
view. 

In regard to Rienzi, he was of a genius too 


14 


THE CONSPIRACY 


difficult to define ; his character will be much better 
drawn from his actions, than from any portrait we 
can find of him. He had a singular mixture of 
virtues and vices, of good and bad qualities, of 
abilities and incapacity, which seemingly contra¬ 
dicting each other, he reconciled to a great degree. 
He was crafty and weak, bold and fearful, haughty 
and humble. A show of wisdom and gravity made 
him at first regarded as a profound politician ; but 
his extravagant flights soon made him pass among 
men of sense for a madman, capable of the most rash 
enterprises. He had a natural timidity, which hin¬ 
dered him from pushing them on. His fierceness 
on a sudden was changed to baseness, and the most 
fortunate acts of his policy often degenerated to the 
most extravagant meanness. He was ambitious 
enough to conceive a design of a kind of universal 
monarchy. Eloquent by nature and art, he made 
impressions on the minds of those he spoke to, 
without distinguishing, or pretending to distinguish, 
between their applauses and railleries : capable of 
bringing about a revolution, and setting up a 
tyrannic government, but incapable of supporting 
tyranny upon a lasting foundation. In short, he 
was one of those geniuses of a superior degree, which 
Providence at diverse times sends to be either a 
scourge or blessing to a nation. 

Such was the man deputed to go to Avignon, and 


OF GABRINI. 


15 


repeat the petitions of the Romans to Clement VI. 
to return to Rome. At his first audience he 
charmed the court of Avignon with his eloquence 
and the sprightliness of his conversation ; encou¬ 
raged by success he one day took the liberty to tell 
the Pope, that the grandees of Rome were avowed 
robbers, public thieves, infamous adulterers, and 
illustrious profligates, who by their example autho¬ 
rised the most horrid crimes. To them he attri¬ 
buted the desolation of Rome, of which he drew so 
lively a picture, that the holy father was moved and 
exceedingly incensed against the Roman nobility. 

Cardinal John Colonna at that time shone at the 
court of Avignon. He was a lover of real merit, as 
he possessed a large share himself. He was the 
Mecaenas of Petrarch, and of every man of letters. 
Rienzi apparently began with particulars that dis¬ 
pleased the cardinal; it is certain that that prelate 
was sensibly nettled at his invectives, which reflected, 
among the rest, on some of his family. Omitting 
no pretence to render his deputation suspected, 
he caused him to be disgraced. This disgrace 
destroyed every scheme of Rienzi; he fell into 
extreme misery. Vexation and sickness, joined 
with indigence, brought to an hospital a man, who 
afterward made so great a noise all over Europe. 
Happy for him his misery was of short duration : 
the same hand that threw him down, raised him up 



16 


OF GABRINI. 


again. The cardinal who but just before had vowed 
his ruin, was all compassion, and, without foreseeing 
the consequences of his kindness, caused him to 
appear before the Pope in assurance of his being a 
good man, and a great partisan for justice and 
equity. The Pope approved of him more than ever, 
and to give him proofs of his esteem and confidence, 
he made him Apostolic Notary, and sent him back 
loaded with favours, but without any answer in 
relation to his Holiness’s return to Rome, which he 
had demanded on the part of the Romans. Rienzi 
was less moved with the favours of Clement and 
Cardinal Colonna, than with the ill usage he at first 
met with from the latter. Resentment had a greater 
ascendancy over him than gratitude. He departed 
with a firm resolution to be revenged on the 
Colonnas, which in time he knew how to accom¬ 
plish, and had the imprudence to let fall his threats 
on his departure from Avignon. 



OF GABRINI. 


17 


BOOK II. 

As soon as Rienzi returned to Rome, he began to 
execute his office of apostolic notary with great 
affectation of honour, justice, and probity; which, 
joined to his continued exclamations against the 
enormities of the great, gained him on the one hand 
the affections of the people, as on the other it ren¬ 
dered them odious: by these means he obtained a 
kind of superiority, and omitted no opportunity of 
turning to advantage his secret designs. By his 
affability and popularity he added to his credit; 
always ready to serve, always foremost in civility, 
always punctual in the administration of justice, 
constantly exhorting the counsellors to equity, and 
the rest to peace, concord, and respect to the Holy 
See. Those who intermeddled with the government 
he stiled the Dogs of the Capitol. 

When he imagined that he had sufficiently esta¬ 
blished the reputation of being a good citizen, he 
made a bold stroke. One day, at a full council- 

c 


18 


THE CONSPIRACY 


board, he rose op suddenly, and with a kind of 
enthusiasm said to the senators, “ You are bad citi¬ 
zens :—you who suck the blood of the people relieve 
them not.” Afterwards, addressing himself to the 
officers and governors, he admonished them to take 
care of the welfare of the city. His speech forced a 
blow from Andrew le Normand Camerlingue, who 
was of the family of Colonna. Thomas Fortiflocca, 
secretary of the senate, rebuked him also for his 
inconsiderate zeal, and displaced him. This ill suc¬ 
cess not the least disheartened him; he grew more 
warm in reproving publicly their vices, and inveigh¬ 
ing against the debauched, but acted in a more pru¬ 
dent manner. To cut a second eclat, with a better 
prospect of success, and less risk, he caused a sym¬ 
bolical picture to be drawn, on which he pretended 
to represent the whole situation of affairs in Italy, 
which he affixed to the court-gate of the senate. 

This painting exhibited, in the midst of a tem¬ 
pestuous sea, a ship floating without sails or sailors, 
and just swallowed by the waves. On board ap¬ 
peared a woman in a widow’s habit; her hair 
dishevelled, her hands wringing at her breast, and 
her knees in a suppliant posture; over her was 
written, Rome. On the right were four ships 
wrecked and sinking ; in each a woman upon deck, 
representing Babylon, Carthage, Troy, and Jeru¬ 
salem. One label set forth that injustice had ruined 


OF GABRINI. 


19 


those cities ; and another, that Rome was once 
greater than all, but her desolation was now near 
at hand. On the left were three rocks; on one was 
Italy, in the figure of a lady, lamenting the misfor¬ 
tune of Rome in having no place of refuge, who had 
herself been a refuge and asylum to the whole world. 
On another were the four cardinal virtues, emble¬ 
matically displayed by four women, in attitudes the 
most expressive of grief, which they seemed to attri¬ 
bute to the dangerous condition of Rome; on a label 
they thus addressed her —“ You have been attended 
upon by every virtue, and now, behold, you are over¬ 
whelmed in an ocean of evil. On the third rock was 
represented the Christian religion, with this label:— 

“ 0 God ! if Rome perish, where must I go?” 

Above, towards the right, were painted four rows 
of diverse animals with horns, through which they 
blew upon the waves, and endeavoured chiefly to 
sink the principal ship. In the first row were lions, 
wolves, and bears, with this inscription—“ Behold 
governors, senators, and nobles/’ In the second, 
dogs, hogs, and she-goats, with this—“ Evil coun¬ 
sellors and flatterers of nobility.” In the third, 
dragons, foxes, and he-goats, with this—“ Corrupt 
officers, judges, and notaries.” In the fourth, a 
number of apes, monkeys, and cats, with this— 
“ Murderers, adulterers, and robbers.” Over the 

c 2 


20 


THE CONSPIRACY 


whole was painted “ Heaven,” from whence de¬ 
scended the Supreme Being, with all the majesty 
of the sovereign judge displeased; two swords issued 
from his mouth, and on each side were the apostles, 
St. Peter and St. Paul, endeavouring to appease 
him. 

This fantastical picture, which drew the attention 
of the people, caused them to reflect on what they 
every day went through, and look upon Rienzi as a 
man capable of taking their interests into his hands, 
and restoring their tottering state. His stratagem 
having succeeded, without danger from the principal 
men who despised it, in a little time after he had 
the rashness to make another public show of quite a 
different nature. 

He affixed to the wall of the choir of St. John 
the Lateran a large brass plate, on which was en¬ 
graven the people of Rome yielding the sovereign 
authority to Vespasian, in antique characters, to 
render it the more ambiguous; but the matter spoke 
itself. Rienzi would by this have had it understood, 
that the supreme power was entirely lodged in the 
hands of the people ; that their rulers were no more 
than trustees; and that they were to ordain what 
they thought fit. Ihe seditious maxims w'hich 
Rienzi took so much pains to propagate, w^ere ex¬ 
tremely agreeable to the citizens ; the nobility also 
were disgusted at the Pope’s residence at Avignon, 


OF GABRINI. 


21 


and especially at the little esteem Clement VI. 
showed the Romans. 

Rienzi, perceiving- the attention of the people, 
which his hierog-lyphical plate had universally at¬ 
tracted, and their desire of understanding the mean¬ 
ing of the mystical characters, raised in the same 
place an alcove and amphitheatre handsomely adorned* 
Having set a day for the explanation, he gave a 
general invitation to the nobility. Stephen Colonna 
and John, his son, appeared at the head of a numer¬ 
ous company of distinction. It was thought that 
the ceremony would have been very solemn, but in 
its appearance it proved a very singular farce. 
Rienzi on his stage was, in fact, a comedy king; he 
was dressed in a gown, with a hood of white cloth, 
and a hat of the same colour, spangled with golden 
crowns, one of which, more resplendent than the 
rest, was separated by the point of a silver sword. 
His whimsical garb made it difficult for him that day 
to expound ; the extravagancy of his enigmatical 
dress, and the boldness of the orator, surprised all. 
He demanded silence; he expatiated with great 
energy on the grandeur of the empire, and the 
liberty of Rome, comparing its ancient splendour 
with its present decline. He represented Rome as 
overwhelmed, and blind to such a degree as to be 
unable to see the source of her evils; “because,” 
saith he, “ she hath plucked out both her eyes, to 


22 


THE CONSPIRACY 


know the Pope and the Emperor.” He alluded to 
the absence of Clement VI.; the troubles occasioned 
by the Emperor Lewis of Bavaria, not acknowledged 
by the Popes: and to the miseries which were the 
consequence thereof. “ Behold,” added he, turning 
himself toward the plate of brass, “ behold the glory 
of the senate at the time the Emperors held their 
authority of the Romans! ” Afterwards, making a 
sign to a man prepared on purpose, he made him 
read a sheet of paper which contained a plain expli¬ 
cation of the unknown characters; they were the- 
articles agreed upon between the senate and Vespa¬ 
sian. 1. The power of enacting laws and making 
alliances. 2. The liberty of adding to or diminish¬ 
ing from the garden of Rome (meaning Italy *). 
3. The right to make counts, dukes, and kings, and 
to depose them; to build or depopulate cities; to 
turn the course of rivers; and to levy or take off 
taxes, as should be judged most necessary. 

“ Such, my Lords,” continued Rienzi, “ was your 
ancient majesty to bestow sovereignty on emperors 
—on the Tiberiuses and Vespasians ; and such the 
power you have now lost.” Then advancing nearer 

* According to Gibbon, the Lex Regia empowers Vespasian to 
enlarge the Pomcerium —a spot of ground which the augurs at the 
first building of the city solemnly consecrated, and on which no 
edifice was permitted to be raised; Rienzi and others have con¬ 
founded the word with Pomarium . 


OF GABRINI. 


23 


to the people, that they might understand him— 
“ Romans,” said he, with an elevated voice, “ your 
divisions are the sole cause of your misfortunes ; 
they engross all your thoughts, all your care. Your 
estates are neglected, your lands are untilled; the 
jubilee is approaching, and you have no provisions. 
Good God ! what will foreigners, flocking from all 
pcrts of the universe to Rome to obtain indulgence, 
tfcmk ? What will they say to find your city thus 
unprovided ? Expect no succours from the ecclesi¬ 
astics ; they will leave the city when they find a 
scarcity, and take with them to other places num¬ 
bers they find within your walls.” He concluded 
with conjuring them to put an end instantly to their 
discord, and establish peace, so desirable at present 
for the public good. 

This harangue, far from prejudicing, gained the 
speaker great applause. He showed himself boldly 
a.t the palaces of the great, where he was well received. 
John Colonna and other grandees of Rome made an 
entertainment to divert their respective companies. 
He spoke as a man inspired, and in an ^enthusiastic 
manner plainly foretold his future grandeur, his 
restoring a good establishment at Rome, and the 
glory of his administration. “ If I am king or empe¬ 
ror,” added he, “ I shall proceed against all the 
grandees, who now hear me. I shall hang this, and 
behead that.’’ He spared not one, and declared all in 


24 


THE CONSPIRACY 


their presence. They looked upon him as a buffoon, 
and laughed at his prediction ; by his buffoonery, 
however, he afterwards deceived the most sensible 
men of Rome. Pleased with his success among 1 the 
great, who diverted themselves with his flights, he 
acted his part so well before the people, who really 
esteemed him, that nothing was talked of among 
them but the Roman grandeur, the good establish¬ 
ment, and Nicholas Gabrini, its restorer. As the 
chimerical sights of Rienzi amused the populace, ard 
the nobility, far from taking umbrage, diverted them¬ 
selves with them, that their spirits might not sink, 
lie had recourse again to his emblems. 

He set up a new picture against the wall of the 
castle of St. Angelo, over against the market-place, 
On one side was a dreadful furnace vomiting flames 
almost to the clouds; and near it a vast multitude of 
people and kings, who appeared dying or half dead ; 
among them was an elderly lady more than half con¬ 
sumed ; not above one-third of her body remained 
entire. On the other side was a church, from whence 
came an angel dressed in white, with a scarlet hood; 
in his right hand he held a naked sword, and offered 
his left to the lady, to help her out of the flames. 
Over the steeple St. Peter and St. Paul appeared 
descending from heaven, and crying out, “ Angel, 
angel, assist her, who received us in her tabernacles.” 
In the mean time a number of falcons fell from on 



OF GABRINI. 


25 


high into the flames: a dove higher mounted, held 
in her beak a crown of myrtle, which she presented 
to a little bird that in a moment receiving it, pursued 
the falcons, and flew to crown the matron. Over the 
whole was this prophetic inscription, “ The time of 
justice is approaching ; wait the happy moment.” 

Among the many who took these public sights 
into consideration, some esteemed them idle fancies, 
and ridiculed them; others would have them to be 
realities and symbols of restoring Rome to her pris¬ 
tine glory, others again pretended to find out in all 
of them a profound meaning, and affirmed them to be 
true oracles. Time speedily explained the chimeras 
of such a madman as Rienzi, who painted the nobi¬ 
lity under the figure of falcons, the Holy Ghost 
under that of a dove, and his own person under that 
of a little bird, who crowned Rome. 

The last piece of this kind that Rienzi exhibited 
was a label, which he stuck up in the porch of St. 
George, with these words wrote upon it, “ In a short 
time the Romans shall be restored to their ancient 
good establishment.” This prophecy was promul¬ 
gated the first day of Lent, 1347, and (which ren¬ 
ders it really amazing) was in a very short time 
fulfilled, as if heaven itself was pleased to favour the 
extravagancies of Rienzi, in raising himself at once 
from the most abject condition to a sovereign dig¬ 
nity, or to let mankind see, that whenever the 


26 


THE CONSPIRACY 


supreme being thinks fit he can confound human 
policy, and advance at his will the most debased to 
the degree of potentates. 

The time appointed for this surprising revolution 
was now at hand. The minds of the people were 
infatuated, and many of the nobility began to come 
into the views of Rienzi; their derision was changed 
into esteem. The senate in no wise mistrusted a 
man whom they judged to have neither ability nor 
interest; by the means of this reputation among 
them, Rienzi contrived and executed his plot under 
the very eyes of the government without meeting 
any obstruction. 

Secured by this liberty he ventured to open his 
mind, but with great precaution, to many of those 
he judged the most discreet; to the gentry, to the 
merchants, and to men of every condition, whom he 
believed to be malecontents. At first he took them 
one after another to work upon them ; afterwards, 
when he thought them firmly attached to his inte¬ 
rest, he resolved to assemble them together. He 
directed them to a secret place upon Mount Aventine, 
towards the latter end of April, at the time the 
governor, Stephen Colonna, was gone to the castle 
of Corneto to take care of the grain. The conspi¬ 
rators took the advantage of his absence to meet in 
secret. In this assembly, which w r as the only one 
kept secret, all the rest were under the eyes of the 


OF GABRINI. 


27 


whole city, they consulted ways and means to bring 
about the good establishment. Rienzi gave the 
seditious no time to reflect upon what they came 
about. Elevating himself the better to harangue 
them, he set forth with great energy the misery, the 
slavery, and the almost ruined state of Rome; he 
made a contrast between them and its former gran¬ 
deur, liberty and happiness. He represented in the 
blackest colours the incapacities of their governors, 
the dissensions among the grandees, intestine cabals, 
knots of men running to and fro, women carried by 
force from their husbands’ beds ; nunneries turned 
into brothels ; priests abandoning themselves to all 
manner of debauchery : no shadow of justice, no 
authority revered; every thing to fear, nothing to 
hope from the senators, who, leaving Rome, indulged 
repose, and lived upon the fat of the land : even the 
governor himself enjoying at his country seat tran¬ 
quillity at a time numbers were perishing in the city. 

In drawing these pictures he animated his elo¬ 
quence, sometimes by life and energy, sometimes by 
sighs, groans, and tears, and sometimes by exclama¬ 
tions of indignation. “ You, brave Romans,” con¬ 
tinued he, “ you are required to re-establish justice 
and peace.” He perceived that, notwithstanding 
the emotion he had caused in the assembly, they 
looked upon themselves as unfortunate, and fetched 
deep sighs at seeing themselves in no condition of 


28 


THE CONSPIRACY 


executing- so great projects. Whither must they go, 
without arms, without money, without a place of 
refuge ? This reflection destroyed their ardour, 
and the whole appeared to them no more than a 
dream. 

Rienzi resumed his speech, and assured them that 
he had in his power means both efficacious and law¬ 
ful. As a necessary foundation for the enterprise, 
he gave them an insight into the immense revenues 
of the apostolic chamber, which he was as well 
acquainted with as the pope’s vicar, and w T hich he 
flattered himself to render still more extensive than 
in these troublesome times. Having again by this 
detail cast a mist before the eyes of the company, 
he made a calculation, and demonstrated that the 
pope could at the rate of four pence raise a hundred 
thousand florins by firing, as much by salt, and as 
much more by the customs and other duties. “ As 
for the rest,” said he, “ I would not have you imagine, 
that it is without the pope’s consent I lay hands on 
the revenues. Alas! how many others in this city 
plunder the effects of the church contrary to his will.” 

By this artful lie he would have averted the idea 
of an open tyranny, and make to himself a merit like 
that of St. Peter, of being the defender of their 
rights, and the restorer of their liberties. As to his 
auditors, they were so exasperated against Clement 
VI., having been long flattered with the vain hopes 



OF GABRINI. 


29 


of his coming to Rome, and obliged to see such vast 
sums sent into France, that they declared they would 
make no scruple in detaining them for whatever ends 
might be most conveuient. 

This resolve, of which they took no consideration, 
raised their courage to such a pitch, that all declared 
themselves devoted to the will of their chief. To 
secure them from any revolt, he tendered them a 
paper, superscribed, an oath to procure the good 
establishment, and made them subscribe and swear 
to it before he dismissed them. In this tumultuous 
and ill-concerted manner commenced a conspiracy, in 
appearance so little to be feared, that men of sense 
esteemed it beneath their notice ; and so wonderful 
in its success, that it became the chief subject of dis¬ 
course throughout Europe. 

The execution was as odd as the project and mea¬ 
sures had been. Rienzi judged it necessary to gain 
the pope’s vicar, and bring him into his confidence. 
History is silent in regard to the means he made use 
of to effect it. But by the following it appears that 
he attempted and succeeded. Raymond, the pope’s 
vicar, was a most proper person to fall into the snares 
of a man even of less craft than Rienzi. It is pro¬ 
bable Rienzi discovered no more of the conspiracy 
than was necessary to bring him into his designs, 
and talked to him only of the public welfare of 
Rome, particularly that of the apostolic chamber. 


30 


THE CONSPIRACY 


As much in the dark as we are in relation to this 
affair, it appears that the Bishop of Orvieto either 
despised his undertaking-, or rather, underhand, 
seconded it. Rienzi effected an exploit which, with¬ 
out his knowledg-e or consent, was actually impossi¬ 
ble. On the 18th of May, a few days after the secret 
meeting-, he caused it to be proclaimed throug-h the 
streets of Rome by sound of trumpet, that every 
man on the 19th, at night, should, at the sound of the 
bell, be at the church of the castle of St. Angelo, in 
order to procure a good establishment. 

The same night he ordered thirty masses to be 
said, at which he assisted in person till near nine 
o’clock next morning. The 20th of May (being 
Whitsunday), he fixed upon to sanctify in some sort 
his enterprise, and pretended that all he had acted 
was by particular inspiration of the Holy Ghost* 
About nine he came out of the church bareheaded 
accompanied by the Pope’s vicar (a mark of deceit 
voluntary or forced) and surrounded by an hundred 
armed men. A vast crowd followed him w'ith shouts 
and acclamations. Rienzi set his march in all pos¬ 
sible order. The gentlemen conspirators carried three 
standards before him. Nicholas Gualiato, surnamed 
the good speaker, carried the first, which w 7 as red, 
and much finer than the others; upon it, in gold, 
was the figure of a woman, sitting upon two lions, 
holding in one hand the globe of the world, and in 


OF GABRINI. 


31 


the other a branch of palm representing Rome. The 
second white, with St. Paul holding in his right hand 
a naked sword, and in his left the crown of justice, 
was carried by Stephen Magnaccusia, apostolic notary. 
On the third was St. Peter, holding the keys of con¬ 
cord and peace. All these insinuated the design of 
Rienzi to re-establish liberty, justice and peace. 

Amidst this singular pomp and loud acclamations, 
Rienzi drawing the people after him, marched directly 
to the capitol, not without some return of dread, for 
he was naturally fearful upon reflection : but encou¬ 
raged by the multitude, he entered the palace, mounted 
the rostrum, and harangued the people with more 
energy and boldness than ever. 

Having, according* to custom, expatiated on the 
miseries the Romans were reduced to, he hesitated 
not to tell them, that the happy hour of their delive¬ 
rance was at length come, and that he was come to 
be their deliverer, regardless of the dangers he was 
exposed to for the service of the Holy Father and the 
people’s safety. When he had finished, he ordered 
the son of Cecco Mancino to read the laws which he 
had drawn up (as he said) to attain to the good esta¬ 
blishment they all aimed at; assured, that the Ro¬ 
mans would resolve to observe these laws, he engaged 
in a short time to re-establish them in their ancient 
grandeur. 

The laws of the good establishment were— 


32 


THE CONSPIRACY 


I. That murderers without exception shall suffer 
death. 

II. That all processes shall be stopped, and remain 
void for the space of fifteen days. 

III. That no family of Rome shall appropriate to 
their own use what they think fit; but that the 
revenues shall appertain to the public. 

IV. That in every quarter of Rome shall be main¬ 
tained at the public expense, one hundred foot sol¬ 
diers and twenty-five troopers. 

V. That the apostolic chamber shall provide for 
widows and orphans. 

VI. That in all the ports dependent upon Rome 
shall be maintained a vessel for the security of com¬ 
merce. 

VII. That the moneys arising- from the chim¬ 
ney-tax, excises, customs, &c. (if occasion requires) 
shall defray the expenses of the good establish¬ 
ment. 

VIII. That no nobleman, beside the chief of the 
people, shall have possession of the castles, bridges, 
ports and forts belonging to the government. 

IX. That no nobleman shall appropriate to himself 
any fortress whatever. 

X. That the grandees shall take care of the roads, 
and prevent highwaymen and foot-pads sheltering 
themselves near them, under penalty of paying for 
omission one thousand marks sterling. 


OF GABRINI. 


33 


XL That poor convents shall be relieved at the 
expense of the public. 

XII. That at all parts of Rome shall be erected 
granaries for the provision of corn against any exi¬ 
gency that may happen. 

XIII. That if any Roman shall be slain in the 
service of his country, his heirs, if a foot-soldier, 
shall have a gratuity of one hundred livres ; if a 
trooper one hundred florins. 

XIV. That the towns and other places within the 
district of Rome, shall be garrisoned with soldiers 
drawn from those of Rome. 

XV. That every one who accuses another, and 
cannot make good his accusation, shall be punished 
according to the will of the accused; if capable with 
a pecuniary, if not, a corporal punishment. 

Such were the principal laws which Rienzi pro¬ 
posed to the Romans as the basis of the good esta¬ 
blishment. They could not fail of proving agreeable 
to a people who found in them a double advantage ; 
on the one hand a promise of plenty and security, 
on the other the depression of the nobility ; charms 
at this juncture the most alluring, when resentment 
took in conjunction secret jealousy, and an antipathy 
natural against a rank superior, and formidable by 
reason of its superiority. Besides these advantages, 
no burdensome taxes, no imposts; all was drawn 
from the pope’s treasury; and according to the plan 

D 


34 


THE CONSPIRACY 


proposed, they farther believed that they rendered 
service both to the church and the holy father ; so 
well did interest and conscience agree. Enraptured 
with the pleasing ideas of a liberty they at present 
were strangers to, and the hope of gain, they came 
most zealously into all the fanaticism of Rienzi. 
They treated him in the same manner the senate had 
formerly treated Vespasian; they resumed the pre¬ 
tended authority of the Romans; they declared him 
sovereign of Rome, and granted him the power of 
life and death, of rewards and punishments, of enact¬ 
ing and repealing the laws, of treating with foreign 
powers; in a word, they gave him the full aud 
supreme authority over all the extensive territories 
of the Romans. Rienzi, arrived at the summit of his 
wishes, kept at a great distance his artifice; he pre¬ 
tended to be very unwilling to accept of their offers, 
but upon two conditions; the first that they should 
nominate the pope’s vicar his co-partner ; the second, 
that the pope’s consent should be granted him, which 
(he told them) he flattered himself he should obtain. 
These pretences were masterly strokes of his policy; 
for on the one hand he hazarded nothing in thus 
making his court to the holy father; and on the 
other he well knew that the bishop of Orvieto would 
carry a title only and no authority. The people 
granted his request, but paid all their honours to 
him; he possessed the authority without restriction : 


OF GABRINI. 


35 


the good bishop appeared a mere shadow and veil to 
his enterprises. Rienzi was seated in his triumphal 
chariot, like an idol, to triumph with the greater 
splendour. He dismissed the people replete with 
joy and hope: he seized upon the palace, where he 
continued after he had turned out the senate, and the 
same day began to dictate his laws in the capitol. 

In the meantime Stephen Colonna, who was at 
Corneto, a castle not far distant, was greatly sur¬ 
prised to hear of the transactions at Rome, and to 
find himself dispossessed of his government by a 
man he had hitherto looked upon as a madman. 
The affair at first seemed to have too little credit to 
make him imagine the mischief of so great conse¬ 
quence, nevertheless he judged it of too much im¬ 
portance to be neglected. 

He took horse, and arrived at Rome with a small 
retinue, persuaded that this enterprise was no more 
than a sally of the adventurer, which he could easily 
quell, and that his presence alone would make the 
people return to their duty. The tranquillity in 
which he found the city confirmed him in his opinion, 
so that he contented himself with reprimanding them 
as he passed along for their disaffection. He retired 
afterwards to his own house to inform himself more 
fully of the real state of affairs, and set them again 
in order at his leisure. But Rienzi gave him no 
time : he acted with a discretion rarely attendant 

d 2 


36 


THE CONSPIRACY 


upon persons of his character, and thereby secured 
to himself the government of Rome. The next 
morning he sent notice in writing to the governor to 
depart the city immediately. Stephen Colonna, 
enraged at this bold proceeding, and scarcely be¬ 
lieving his own eyes, tore in pieces the order; 
adding, that if the madman put him in a passion, he 
would instantly throw him out of the window of 
the capitol. But he soon perceived he w r as not in 
the condition he imagined. As he had given the 
conspirators and people time to strengthen them¬ 
selves, his threatening was of no effect. Rienzi, now- 
attended upon at the first summons, sounded the 
alarm at the capitol: the people came armed from 
all parts of the city, and the insurrection w T as so 
quick and universal, that Colonna, finding them on 
the point of storming his house, with much difficulty 
got on horseback and escaped, followed by one ser¬ 
vant only. He made no stop till he came without 
the w'alls, and having in a hurry ate one mouthful, 
he rode in all haste imaginable to Palestrina, there 
to join his son and nephew, who were no less con¬ 
cerned than he at the wonderful revolution, which 
his flight and disorder convinced them was too true. 
At this castle (where he fortified himself) he reflected, 
but too late, that the greatest events depend upon 
one critical moment, which, if let slip, can never be 
recovered. 


OF GABRINI. 


37 


Rienzi, who knew he must be lost, and his plot 
miscarry as soon as discovered, if Colonna had pre¬ 
sence of mind or the least security, thought himself 
obliged to push this first success, and turn to ad¬ 
vantage this decisive moment which his good fortune 
presented to him. Amidst the consternation into 
which the retreat of the governor had thrown the 
nobility, he issued that very hour an order for all 
the nobility to depart the city and retire to their 
estates. All of them obeyed without making him 
repeat it, and departed immediately. The next day 
he made himself master of all the avenues of the 
city, and placed guards on the bridges. The follow¬ 
ing days he established officers to execute justice in 
his name ; to commit to prison the greatest criminals, 
to take up others who were known delinquents, 
and to hang some and behead others. All criminals 
who fell into his hands were treated with the utmost 
rigour. This severity, which he judged necessary 
at the beginning, especially after the tyranny of the 
nobility and a long impunity, brought upon him a 
thousand blessings, and gained him the hearts of the 
whole people to such a degree, that within a few 
days he found himself more master of Rome by the 
esteem and veneration which they showed for his 
person, than by all the secret or open measures and 
precautions which he had taken to secure his 
power. 


38 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK III. 

After a revolution so sudden and fortunate, it 
appeared absolutely necessary for Rienzi to seal the 
success of his enterprise with the pope’s authority. 
He well knew that in acquainting the conspirators 
with his being in some sort acknowledged by the 
pope, and in affirming to the people that he would 
not upon any condition but that of the holy father’s 
confirmation have accepted of the charge, he should 
reap an infinite advantage. This double decoy drew 
to his party a number of honest men, whom it was 
dangerous to undeceive, and gave his usurpation an, 
air of lawful authority, which he judged requisite to 
preserve. One favourable word from Clement VI., 
or the least sign of his approbation, was sufficient to 
justify an action which without it could be esteemed 
no less than an open rebellion. Notwithstanding 
the visible contradiction between his proceeding and 
his pretended zeal for the service of the church, he 
had, however, at all times, assiduously studied to 


OF GABRINI. 


39 


reconcile them, and affected to do every thing for 
the ecclesiastical state, while in fact his own interest 
w'as the sole object of his thoughts ; by these means 
he not only extenuated his usurpation, but obtained 
farther the approbation of the very person who 
ought to have been the most offended at it. 

He was not the least deceived in his hopes. The 
deputies charged with his despatches and those of the 
pope’s vicar, whom he had prevailed upon to write 
in his favour, were so much the better received at 
Avignon, as a submission so great could not have 
been well expected on his part. The news of this 
revolution at Rome was soon dispersed over Europe, 
and looked upon rather as a sedition that would 
consume away like a transient fire, than one of those 
grand combustions which change the face of affairs 
in a state, and which are in reality eras the most 
remarkable in history. The court of Avignon had 
taken the alarm, and was consulting means to redress 
itself when the deputies from Rienzi arrived. 

The pope was at that time sensible that he alone 
had occasioned the deputation of the Romans to 
beseech him to leave Avignon, and that his refusal 
had partly been the cause of the confusion; that the 
resentment of the Italians had made them favour 
Lewis of Bavaria in his attempts against the holy 
see by their neglect, notwithstanding the repeated 
assurances they had made of defending him against 


40 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the Emperor even to the last drop of their blood. 
In all appearance this revolution at Rome was the 
fruit of a discontent of forty-two years’ continuance, 
reckoning- from the exaltation of Clement V., first 
pope of Avignon, on the 5th of June, 1305, to the 
elevation of Rienzi on the 20th of May, 1347 ; in 
which it is remarkable, that the former of these 
critical days for the Romans was Whitsun-eve, and 
the latter Whit-Sunday, a circumstance which Rienzi 
failed not to turn to advantage. 

These considerations obliged Clement in so nice an 
affair to act with deliberation, especially as Rienzi's 
letters were couched in terms full of zeal for the 
good of the church, and submission to the vicar of 
Jesus Christ. He declared therein, that he had 
nothing in view in what he had done but the estab¬ 
lishment of the authority of the holy see, almost 
annihilated by some particular lords; that the 
Romans had in a manner forced him to put himself 
at their head, in order to free Rome from the tyranny 
she long had groaned under; that without the 
expectation of his holiness’s good will, he would not 
have joined hands with them, and upon condition of 
acting in concert with his vicar, whom he had 
expressly demanded for a joint administrator in the 
government. In a word, that if his holiness would 
vouchsafe to confirm him in the administration, he 
doubted not of convincing him of the disinterested- 


OF GABRINI. 


41 


ness of his intentions, and of his passive obedience 
to all his commands. 

The envoys of llienzi in their audiences lessened 
much the submission professed in his letters. Having- 
expatiated on the ability, the wisdom, and the autho¬ 
rity of a man who, at the first word of command, 
had drove from Rome the most ennobled, hitherto 
regardless, high as it was, of the papal power, they 
acquainted his holiness that the people of Rome 
would never suffer any infringement on the authority 
of Rienzi, who had already given them proofs of his 
good administration, and who was, as it were, idolised 
by them; that even Rienzi himself should not leave 
them at his own pleasure, and that they would 
compel him to maintain the high post he possessed 
with so much dignity for the good of his country. 

The court of Avignon upon consideration shut 
their eyes on all that had passed. They commended 
Rienzi’s zeal, and were content with his good inten¬ 
tions ; they exhorted him to preserve the favour and 
protection of the holy father, who, if he approved 
not of the manner, ratified the election, and confirmed 
Rienzi and Raymond in the authority and power 
which the Romans had bestowed on them; they 
moreover judged it proper to make known that they 
were acquainted with the whole proceeding, “ for 
(said the holy father) such an election could not 
have been made without our consent, because the 


42 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Romans soon after our exaltation invested us with 
the sole power of nominating officers of the city.” 

While the envoys of Rienzi were negociating for 
him at Avignon, or rather from the moment they 
departed, he was meditating upon the means of 
obtaining a new title, without concerning himself 
about that which the pope should think fit to confer, 
and which he wisely foresaw he must be obliged to 
accept of. He considered that a power granted by 
the pope would in all probability be loaded with such 
restrictions, as must most effectually limit the extent 
of the grand projects he had formed; that, therefore, 
it highly behoved him to put himself in a condition 
that would one day enable him to shake off the pope’s 
authority, if he should presume either to regulate, 
diminish, or take away the power he had usurped. 

Nothing was more plausible than the title he fixed 
upon, which was that of tribune of the people. 
Versed in the Roman history, he knew the exten¬ 
siveness of that charge in ancient Rome, that from a 
small beginning the tribunes brought it to a power 
almost despotic, to which the greatest of the republic, 
the senate, the consuls were compelled to submit. 
After the extinction of the republic it appeared of 
such importance, that the emperors thought them¬ 
selves not invested with power sufficient, unless they 
annexed to their dignity the charge of tribune, which 
afterward became inseparable; a charge which, at its 


OF GABRINI. 


43 


origin was regarded only as the most proper means 
of securing the liberty of the Romans, yet falling 
into the hands of the emperors, became the instru¬ 
ment of oppression, and the destruction of that very 
liberty itself. 

Extraordinary as this title appeared, which had 
long since remained unknown at Rome, it required 
nothing more than a little fawning upon the people, 
to call to their remembrance their ancient grandeur, 
and those happy times wherein the masters of the 
universe were obliged to make court to the meanest 
citizens for their suffrages. Rienzi assembled the 
people, and having fed them as usual with his chime¬ 
rical ideas of the re-establishment of a republic, he 
told them he had two favours to beg of them, the 
first was to ratify all that he had done to that time, 
the banishment of the nobles, the punishment of the 
criminals he had executed, the regulations he had 
made, and the order he had dispersed over the city ; 
the second was to confer upon him a title independent 
of any other than that which he should receive from 
the people, and which might happen to stand in 
need of such a regulation as he at that time required 
of them. 

The people, in a manner enchanted with respect 
for him, answered his demands with a general 
applause; they clapped their hands, and with one 
voice proclaimed their eulogiums on all he had done ; 


44 


THE CONSPIRACY 


they were so little masters of their own reason, and 
so perfectly devoted to his person, that whatever 
dignity he requested, they would willingly have 
granted; he might doubtless, had he thought fit, 
been proclaimed king or emperor. 

But Rienzi coveted not those august titles, which, 
far from augmenting, most frequently diminish the 
power of the possessor : his aim was to obtain an 
authority more than royal, yet under the name of 
popularity. He again repeated what he so many 
times had insinuated to the Romans, that thev were 
a people of all others the least susceptible of oppres¬ 
sion, and ought to pay obedience to no other governor 
than the person they should elect; that, as the inso¬ 
lence of the patricians formerly produced the creation 
of tribunes to support the rights of the people, the 
present tyranny of the nobles demanded loudly a 
similar defence; that the nobles omitted no oppor¬ 
tunity of making their efforts to bring them back to 
the yokes from which the Divine will had, under his 
ministry, freed them; that, as the name of tribune 
was so dear to the people, so detestable to the gran¬ 
dees, none but a tribune could repel their attacks; 
and that he, with that title, should have power suf¬ 
ficient to withstand, like walls of brass, their strongest 
attempts. He desired, in this new dignity, the co¬ 
partnership of the pope’s vicar, whom he knew would 
possess the name only of tribune, as he had hitherto 



OF GABRINI. 


45 


done that of governor. When he had finished his 
harangue, they were both proclaimed tribunes of the 
people, and, for an addition to their glory, were styled 
the Deliverers of their Country. 

The principal grandees, whom Rienzi had com¬ 
pelled to retire to their country seats, trembled when 
they found that the power of their enemy, far from 
losing ground, as they were in hopes of, was daily 
increasing and improving in grandeur. The new 
dignity of tribune alarmed them; they looked upon 
it as 'an ill omen ; they reproached each other with 
their blindness in regard to the conduct of the man, 
who had diverted them with his conceits; they 
blamed, above all, Stephen Colonna for not fore¬ 
seeing the evil which he might, at its birth, by 
sacrificing one wretch, have smothered: they had 
all, indeed, laughed at the alarms and cautions which 
they had been advised to take against the sallies of a 
politic buffoon, who only amused them. 

Whether they were wrong or no in not quenching 
at first the flame, they judged it necessary, however, 
now to prevent the fatal consequences of it, and take 
the most proper measures against a power whose 
chief object was their annihilation. They joined to 
consult the destruction of their common enemy ; 
they held secret assemblies, they deliberated largely ; 
but their former errors, in point of submission, ap¬ 
peared upon this occasion; every one thought him- 


46 


THE CONSPIRACY 


self equally in the right to decide and give law; the 
ancient animosities which their present peril had 
lulled asleep, were soon awakened by the warmth of 
their debates. Their debates terminated in the most 
virulent reproaches, and they separated at length in 
a ferment, without coming to any conclusion. 

The tribune, informed of this scene by his spies, 
cut for a second time one of those bold and decisive 
strokes which his good fortune, rather than his 
genius, suggested to him at the most critical junc¬ 
tures of his conspiracy. It was indeed affirmed, at 
that very crisis, a particular instinct drove him, 
almost against his will, to those actions of vigour 
and presence of mind which bring honour to the 
most refined and intrepid policy. He published an 
edict, by which he summoned the grandees to his 
tribunal, to take their oaths to the Republic, upon 
penalty of being declared rebels and traitors in case 
of default. This summons thunderstruck the nobles, 
united by their hatred to the tribune, and divided 
by their own particular animosities. As he had 
surprised them in the interval of their division, 
without allowing them time to re-assemble, they had 
no other course to take than to obey him by their 
return, as they had before done by their retreat. 

The first who presented himself was the young 
Stephen Colonna, son of the governor of that name. 
He entered the capitol attended by a few of his 


OF GABRINI. 


47 


domestics. Upon seeing- the vast concourse of peo¬ 
ple, among- whom the tribune was administering 
justice in an order and with an authority unprece¬ 
dented, Colonna could not forbear outwardly express¬ 
ing- his apprehensions: he trembled. The tribune 
presently advanced toward him, armed with the ma¬ 
jestic countenance of a sovereign ; then leading him 
to an altar, obliged him to swear by the body of 
Jesus Christ and those of his holy Evangelists never 
to take up arms against him, the tribune, or the 
people of Rome ; to preserve plenty, trade, and the 
safety of the roads; to grant no retreat to robbers; 
to protect orphans; not to touch upon any account the 
public money ; and to -appear, upon the first notice, 
either with or without arms, according to the order. 

This was, in substance, the form of the oath 
which Rienzi had drawn up to secure the nobility ; 
a form of which the equity was an exquisite allure¬ 
ment for the people ; an ensnaring proof of the 
integrity of the tribune ; a mortifying reproach 
upon the nobles for their past conduct; and a bridle 
strong enough to hold them in, or render them 
odious, if they should violate an oath so just. After 
the ceremony was over, the tribune admitted young 
Colonna to retire. 

The return of this lord composed the others, who 
apprehended some trap laid to seize their persons: 
when they found themselves free by an oath, which 


48 


THE CONSPIRACY 


they might hereafter examine, they made no hesi¬ 
tation in making their appearance. Reynold and 
Jordan Ursini, with the two Colonnas, John and 
Stephen, the ancient governor of the city and chief 
of his house, went to pay homage to the tribune 
trembling. After their example, and seized with 
the same terror, all the nobility repaired to the 
tribunal of the capitol, and swore allegiance to 
Rienzi. They engaged to stand by him, the good 
establishment, and their country, with their lives 
and fortunes. Even Francis Savelli, Rienzi’s own 
lord, hastened to take the oath of fidelity to a man 
who, but a few days before, had been his vassal. 
The commonalty were ordered to follow the nobility; 
all professions came, according to their rank, to pay 
homage, in an order and with a submission that had 
not been seen at Rome for many years. This tran¬ 
quillity, although procured by fear, was highly pleas¬ 
ing to the Romans, who, to their surprise, heard no 
more murmurs at violence and murder. 

About the same time, to make a deeper impres¬ 
sion on the minds of his new subjects, the tribune 
gave an instance of his rigour. He ordered an 
Anastasian monk, (a man much exclaimed against,) 
without regarding his prayers or the habit he wore, 
to be publicly beheaded before his own monastery : 
he coveted much the reputation of an inexorable 
judge of the wicked. As soon as he found his 


OF GABRINI. 


49 


authority firmly established, by the submission of 
the nobility and people, he turned the whole bent of 
his thoughts upon the manner of administering- jus¬ 
tice, which he had at first only given a sketch of. 
He created a new council, which he named the 
chamber of justice and peace, agreeable to his 
second standard, that bore the figure of St. Paul, 
holding in his right hand a naked sword, and in his 
left the crown of justice. He made choice of gentle¬ 
men of the best families to fill it,—these he called 
the peace-making judges, who were to adjust and 
reconcile all differences, in an exact observation of 
the Lex Talionis. 

Two parties at variance were to come in person, 
on a summons, to the tribunal; before they had 
pleaded their cause, they were obliged to promise 
faithfully to be reconciled after judgment given, and 
deposit a fine for security. After hearing, and their 
cause decided, the offender must make retaliation to 
the offended adequate to the injury sustained; then, 
in presence of the judges, they w'ere to embrace each 
other and withdraw, without daring ever afterward 
to behave as enemies. In matters criminal, the 
same law regulated the satisfaction for the wounded, 
but not with so much severity as to debar the in¬ 
jured party from forgiving the punishment of him 
that wounded him. If one man, for example, put 
out another’s eye, he was brought upon the steps of 

E 


50 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the capitol; there, hare-headed, and kneeling- at the 
feet of the injured, he begged remission of the 
punishment of the Talionis, and, assisted by his 
friends, who joined their petitions with his, he made 
acknowledgment of his submission. If the injured 
forgave him, he was forgiven the punishment; if 
not, he had one of his eyes put out immediately. 

In regard to crimes which concerned the safety 
and tranquillity of the public, there was no mitiga¬ 
tion, no remission to be expected. The tribune 
looked upon impunity to have been the source of all 
the late enormities; he kept a strict hand over the 
judges whom he had established for that purpose, 
that criminals might be tried with all the rigour of 
his new laws. The same was observed in civil 
affairs : justice was executed with such expedition, 
that no cause, however intricate, exceeded the term 
of fifteen days, as he had ordained in his second 
law. 

This close attention to reform justice, to watch 
even the judges themselves, and to prosecute with¬ 
out exception delinquents of every condition, soon 
purged Rome of murderers, adulterers, thieves, and 
all suspected persons. They took so hastily the 
alarm, that they imagined themselves every moment 
discovered, as if the tribune had read their crimes on 
their foreheads. In perpetual fear of being dragged 
out to punishment, they lay concealed in the city, 


OF GABRIN1. 


51 


watching an opportunity to escape ; they flew, in 
effect, by night; they abandoned their houses, wives, 
and children, believing there was no place of security 
for them until they had passed the territories of 
Rome. The woods and great roads, long infested 
by robbers, became entirely free ; lands, which the 
labourers had forsaken, began to be cultivated; 
foreigners went and came without danger; the mer¬ 
chants renewed their commerce ; every thing in 
general put on a new face. Petrarch, in his letter 
to Charles, King of the Romans, gives this short 
account of the change of affairs :— 

“ Not long since, a most remarkable man, of the 
plebeian race, a person whom neither titles or virtues 
had distinguished, until he presumed to set himself 
up for the restorer of the Roman liberty, has ob¬ 
tained the highest authority at Rome. So sudden, 
so great his success, that this man has won Tuscany 
and all Italy. Already Europe and the whole world 
are in motion;—to speak the whole in one word, I 
protest to you, not as a reader, but as an eye-wit¬ 
ness, that he has restored to us the justice, peace, 
integrity, safety, and every other token of the golden 
age.” 

The unfortunate, who had banished themselves 
Rome to escape justice, and were dispersed over all 
parts of Italy, trembled at the name of Rienzi; they 
persuaded themselves a man of his character could 

e 2 


52 


THE CONSPIRACY 


not confine his ambition, supported by the zeal of 
public good, within the walls of Rome; it was rea¬ 
sonable, therefore, to apprehend that he would soon 
be upon the backs of them. The tribune confirmed 
them in their apprehensions. The facility he found 
in making himself master of Rome, and the affection 
shown him by the people, extended his views over 
the rest of Italy, which he noways despaired of 
reducing to his obedience. In consequence of this 
project, he assembled a general senate, and made 
one of those harangues in which his pathetic elo¬ 
quence always prevailed, as he flattered the vanity 
of the Romans. He magnified, according to custom, 
the ancient extent of the Roman power, which knew 
no bounds but those of the world. He insinuated 
that it availed but little their country, once mistress 
of the universe, to see herself delivered from the 
tyranny of the nobles, unless they endeavoured to 
recover for her one part of her former glory, by 
bringing, in some manner, under her dependence 
the rest of Italy, which was withdrawn from her; 
that they must strive to re-unite every little state 
which had been dismembered, and form, as hereto¬ 
fore, a body, whose motions Rome, in quality of 
chief, should regulate; that, in order to succeed, he 
thought it proper to invite all the cities and all the 
princes of Italy to enter into the league of the good 
astablishment, and favour a project which, procuring 


OF GABRINI. 


53 


in them a support, would give the city of Rome a 
kind of superiority, as she would become the protec¬ 
tress of all Italy. 

Nothing appeared chimerical to the Romans, 
already accustomed to the prodigious success of the 
most difficult enterprizes of the tribune. They re¬ 
turned him their thanks for the zeal he had expressed 
for the honour of their country, and beseeched him 
to execute a design so glorious both for that and 
himself. 

He despatched forthwith couriers to the republics, 
to the principal cities, and to all the independent 
princes and lords in Italy. In his letters he informed 
them of the revolution that had been brought about 
at Rome for the establishment of liberty which he 
had procured ; he exhorted them to unite with him 
and the Romans for the repose and general good of 
their common country; he entreated them to send 
deputies to Rome to draw up articles of this league 
and union in favour of the good establishment. He 
pretended that it must be through their means that 
he could make ancient Rome flourish again, by send¬ 
ing their assistance and counsel to that city, which 
had once heen the capital not only of Italy but of 
the whole world. He told them, in short, that they 
ought to testify publicly their joy, and render thanks 
to the Almighty for the inestimable benefits of the 
good establishment, which providence through his 


54 


THE CONSPIRACY 


means had vouchsafed. At the head of his despatches 
he assumed magnificent titles, “ Sovereign of the 
Universe,” &c., (as Montaigne observes of the princes 
of his time) to support by names so singular the 
noise which his reputation began to make in Europe. 
Not content in writing in this manner to the doge 
and senate of Venice, the marquis d’Est of Ferrara, 
the king of Naples, in one word, to all Italy (which 
caused a number of despatches), he had the boldness 
about the same time to write to all the crowned 
heads and potentates of Europe, to desire their 
friendship, upon condition of granting them his. 
His secretaries sat up night and day in drawing up 
his letters. His couriers set out unarmed, having a 
little silver wand only in their hands. As soon as 
this mark of their commission was observed, they 
were in all places received with the greatest respect. 
Nothing demonstrated plainer the high idea con¬ 
ceived of the tribune than the report of the courier 
who returned from Avignon. He published aloud, 
that with his wand he had not only passed without 
danger the roads and woods so lately cried out against 
for robberies, but further, that thousands of passen¬ 
gers came to kneel before him, and kiss the wand 
with tears of joy and acknowledgments to the tri¬ 
bune, who had procured for them the liberty and 
security of the roads. All Italy indeed now r rang 
w ith his praises; the poets celebrated him; but the 


OF GABRINI. 


55 


most pleasing commendation to Rienzi was the 
general satisfaction which he read in the eyes of the 
people, and which gave him the assurance of the 
undoubted homage of all their hearts. 

As yet the tribune had contented himself with 
humbling the nobility, and preventing their making 
any stir. He had not laid hands on any one person 
of the least distinction. At length an opportunity, 
such as he desired, presented itself; a delinquent of 
the first distinction, whose crimes were public and 
attested. He was a young man, his name Martin de 
Puerto, so called from the castle of which he was 
lord, nephew of the cardinals Ceccano.and Gaetan : 
he had been senator of Rome, and could count num¬ 
bers of his ancestors who had enjoyed the same dig¬ 
nity. But his high birth and station served only 
to magnify his high crimes and public robberies, 
which had rendered him detested. In a little more 
than a month after he came to Rome to marry a 
young widow of the house of Alberteschi, he was 
seized with a disease, occasioned by his debaucheries, 
which detained him at Rome, contrary to his incli¬ 
nation, and which terminated in a swelling his phy¬ 
sicians judged to be the dropsy. He kept himself 
close shut up for fear of the tribune ; he saw no 
company but his physicians. Rienzi by his spies, 
however, was informed of the place he lay concealed 
in, and looking upon him as a proper victim to make 


56 


THE CONSPIRACY 


an example of, on purpose to keep in subjection the 
nobility, he ordered the guards of his own palace to 
take him from the arms of his lady, and bring him 
to the capitol. He was immediately arraigned : the 
tribune found no difficulty in convicting him of em¬ 
bezzling the public treasure. Although it was then 
three o’clock in the afternoon, he would not grant 
him a reprieve till the next day; he ordered the 
capitol bell to be rung; the people assembled in 
crowds tumultuously ; they took the convicted lord’s 
cloak off his shoulders ; they tied his hands behind 
him; they made him kneel at the accustomed place 
upon the Lion’s Steps; they read his sentence of 
death to him ; and after granting him with reluc¬ 
tance a short time to confess in, led him to a gibbet, 
where he was tied up under the eyes of his lady, who 
from her window could see him hanging. His corpse 
was exposed two days and one night. Neither his 
quality, nor his proximity of blood with the house 
of Ursini, could save his life, or prevent the igno¬ 
miny of his death. In this manner the tribune 
governed Rome, and made it tremble by many other 
similar examples of a rigour which nothing could 
soften. The people, who till their late fury had 
always preserved a due respect to the grandees, and 
had hitherto been strangers to this kind of execu¬ 
tion, could not refrain from shedding tears at the 
fate of this nobleman, whom, guilty as he was, they 


OF GABRINI. 


57 


accounted unfortunate; but their transitory pity 
was soon changed into encomiums and blessings upon 
the tribune, who in all his conduct until that time 
appeared to have nothing in view but the extirpation 
of tyrants and tyranny. As to those noblemen who 
were equally criminal in their own conscience, they 
were of different opinions ; some kept themselves in 
readiness to move off, others determined so to behave 
for the future as to give no offence. No person 
dared to carry arms or give the least insult; even 
masters feared to strike their servants, lest the severe 
tribune should bring them to his tribunal, where he 
heard all, and took cognisance of the least disputes 
with a care and capacity inconceivable. Public vows 
and prayers were put up for him, that God would 
fortify him in the vast design he had proposed of 
purging Italy of robbers, and making the capital of 
the world glorious in being the asyle and refuge of 
all nations. He had succeeded in part, and was near 
accomplishing an undertaking like that which Tamer¬ 
lane once effected, who made his dominions so secure 
for travellers, that a man might go through them 
without danger, with a vessel of gold upon his head. 
Thus without fear they now passed day and night 
the territories of Rome. 

The execution of Martin de Puorto was some days 
before the festival of St. John; and as that festival 
was always celebrated at Rome with great solemnity, 


58 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Rienzi embraced the opportunity of showing 1 himself 
to the people in a cavalcade, the retinue of which 
would in some measure recal the representation of 
the ancient tribunes of the people, whom he had 
chosen for his models. On the day of the festival, 
June 24, 1347, which fell that year on a Sunday, he 
was accompanied by a number of principal officers of 
his horse-guards. He appeared in the middle of 
them mounted on a white horse, clothed in velvet 
lined with satin, and worked with gold, preceded by 
his foot-guards, which consisted of the hundred con¬ 
spirators of the quarter of Reolo, with whom he had 
seized the capitol. The standard of the Romans, 
which was carried over his head, heightened the 
splendour of his dignity, which he supported by a 
majestic countenance. 

As he perceived that this cavalcade moved the 
people, and produced a good effect in his favour, he 
resolved to form another some time after at St. Peter’s 
church, but with much more magnificence than was 
seen in the preceding; observing that the order of 
his march excited the curiosity of all Rome. In this 
appeared first the finest and best armed of the cavalry 
in several troops. After them came the judges, 
notaries, chamberlains, chancellors, registers, and 
officers of every degree. Then the four prefects of 
the palace, with their attendants in good order and 
well mounted. John de Alio followed them, carry- 


OF GABRINI. 


59 


mg' a cup of precious stone with the usual present 
which the senators made at St. Peter’s church. He 
was followed by the horse-guards, and one troop of 
kettle-drummers and trumpeters, whose silver instru¬ 
ments made a loud and warlike sound. The ban¬ 
nerets marched in their rank with a profound silence 
with the different banners of their quarters. The 
young Vuccio Jubileo followed alone at some dis¬ 
tance with a naked sword to represent justice, accord¬ 
ing to the ideas of the tribune. A small distance 
from him Liello Migliaro scattered money in pro¬ 
fusion, which two men continually were taking out 
of bags hanging to their side. Rienzi by this affected 
liberality, pretended to imitate the magnificence of 
the Roman emperors. After all this train he ap¬ 
peared mounted on a superb steed, and surrounded 
by fifty halberdiers, cutting a figure so extraordinary, 
that he looked like a bear in armour. He was 
dressed in a party-coloured gown of velvet green 
and yellow, lined with fur. In his hand he held, in 
imitation of a sceptre, a rod of polished steel; on the 
point was a small globe of precious stone with a gold 
cross, in which was enclosed a relic of the real 
cross, with these words enamelled, on the one side, 
“ Deus,” and on the other “ Spiritus sanctus.” Close 
behind him Cecco de Alesso carried a grand stand¬ 
ard, which he flourished over the head of the tribune, 
as was usual over those of crowned heads. 


60 


THE CONSPIRACY 


The ground of this standard was blue, on which 
was a golden sun surrounded by silver stars, and 
over those a silver dove holding in his beak an olive 
crown. The application of this device required no 
conjuration. The sun was the tribune, the stars 
those who surrounded his person, or those states 
which he pretended to bring under subjection to the 
city of Rome ; and the dove with the olive, the peace 
which he had produced on Whitsunday, the festival 
of the Holy Ghost. This cavalcade, which had the 
air of a triumph, was followed by an innumerable 
multitude of people of all conditions, nobility, bur¬ 
ghers, foreigners, Romans, all without arms, and in 
no particular rank, but in order, for care was taken 
to knock down all who should make any disturbance 
or confusion. 

With this train the tribune crossed over the 
bridge of St. Angelo, saluting on the right hand and 
left the spectators, to join the popularity of a tribune 
with the majesty of a Roman emperor. 

As soon as he came within sight of St. Peter’s 
church, the clergy who attended in their canonical 
habits, walked before him with the cross and incense, 
singing Veni Creator; a ceremony they perform in 
respect to popes and sovereign princes. Having 
received him at the bottom of the steps, they in¬ 
troduced him into the church, where the tribune 
made his oblation at the altar. He was reconducted 


OF GABRINI. 


61 


by the clergy with the same ceremonies, and returned 
to the capitol in the same order amidst the loud 
acclamations of the people. 

The day after this triumphant march, he affected 
a more than ordinary air of popularity ; and making 
it known that he disdained not to descend from his 
high rank and debase himself for the public good, he 
granted audience to widows, orphans, and all other 
unfortunate persons. 

After this act of clemency and goodness, he sig¬ 
nalised his justice the same day upon two secre¬ 
taries of the senate, the one named Thomas Forti- 
fiocca, and the other Poncellet de la Cammora, upon 
whom he put a paper cap and an iron collar, and fined 
them a thousand livres, as guilty of forgery. Their 
credit, which was great before among the people, was 
quite lost by this indignity. 


62 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK IV. 

Hitherto the conduct of the tribune had been 
unblameable, notwithstanding the despotic power 
with which he governed Rome, without any fear 
of opposition. No avarice, pride, or violence had 
sullied his reputation; it is true he was severe, 
but that severity fell only on the heads of those 
who were known offenders. Although the forfeited 
estates of those who flew from his justice on the one 
hand, and the sole disposition of the public treasure on 
the other, enabled him to live in all the splendour of 
a sovereign prince, yet his furniture and table showed 
no token of a change of condition. Avoiding cere¬ 
mony, he was desirous of appearing after the manner 
of the ancient tribunes, who in their carriage were 
neither haughty nor proud. He was easy of access ; 
the meanest of the people were as well received and 
as favourably heard as the most powerful and con¬ 
siderable. By a conduct so prudent he had the art 
to silence the envy of the grandees he had humbled, 


OF GABRINI. 


63 


to gain the blessings of the people he had drawn 
into bondage, to attract the admiration of all 
Europe, and to cause even the pope himself to 
authorise in a manner his usurpation. 

It is difficult for a person of mean birth, elevated 
at once by the caprice of fortune to the most exalted 
station, to move rightly in a sphere wherein he must 
breathe an air he has been unaccustomed to. Rienzi 
ascended by degrees the summit of his fortune. 
Riches softened, power dazzled, the pomp of his 
cavalcades animated, and formed in his mind ideas 
adequate to those of princes born to empire. 

He began to keep an elegant table, served with 
the choicest dainties and most exquisite wines, which 
was afterwards extended almost to profusion. Before 
this change he wanted no other rampart than the 
people’s affection ; but since, he took those pre¬ 
cautions which he judged most necessary for his 
security. Resolving to fortify himself in the capitol, 
he pallisaded and barricaded it at the expense of the 
Roman nobility ; he obliged them to pull down all 
the rails and gates at the avenues of their houses 
and give them to him, having thereby the double 
advantage of weakening their palaces, and fortifying 
his own at their costs. Not content with mortifying 
thus the nobility, he attacked them more closely 
in their interest. Under pretence of repairing the 
palace of the capitol, which was running to ruin, he 


64 


THE CONSPIRACY 


raised a tax of one hundred florins on every noble¬ 
man who had been a senator. About the same time 
he caused Peter Agapit Colonna to be sent on foot 
at noonday to prison. A short time before he had 
seized at Stephen Colonna’s several who had made 
their escape, whom he ordered to be hanged imme¬ 
diately. 

Having, without any molestation, repaired the 
capitol, which he made his fortress, he resolved to 
strengthen himself with a number of fine troops, as 
well for his own defence, as for the enterprises he 
had in view. He raised a body of 1660 men, 1300 
foot and 360 horse, all young, well disciplined, well 
armed, and well paid. He made them take the oath 
of fidelity, and ordered them to be always ready to 
attend his person under arms at the sound of the 
capitol bell. He quartered them in twelve districts 
of Rome, thirty horse and one hundred and ten foot 
in a company, with particular ensigns in each. 

As soon as he had completed these troops, which, 
in regard to the forces of Italy in those times, were 
very considerable, he published an edict, whereby 
he cited all governors of the towns within the juris¬ 
diction of Rome, to come and pay homage to the 
people of Rome in his person ; and at the same time 
he made an ordinance, whereby he laid a tax of one 
carline and four-pence for firing, upon all the towns, 
hamlets, and villages. The terror of his name was 


OF GABRINI. 


65 


so great, that they submitted to the tax without 
murmuring ; indeed it was no novelty, they had paid 
it time immemorial ; hut the troubles in Italy had 
occasioned it a long while to be gathered in a con¬ 
fused manner, not with that punctuality which such a 
man as Rienzi alone could undertake. His orders 
were so strictly put in force, that his receivers could 
scarcely count the vast sums which they brought 
from all parts. The villages of the lower Tuscany, 
the seaports, and other little places, who had any 
pretence to get themselves off this tax, endeavoured 
now to pay it. This tax was looked upon as a sort 
of tribute and acknowledgment due from all the 
Italian cities to Rome, as their sovereign and their 
mother. 

As to the governors of those towns the tribune 
had cited, they all submitted to his citation and 
tax, except two, who, imagining themselves strong 
enough to withstand him, regarded not his summons. 

The first was John de Vic, who, under the name 
of governor, was in reality petty tyrant of Viterbo. 
He w'as generally called Prefect de Vic, having 
executed the office of prefect of Rome; he was 
desirous of retaining the title, which was to descend 
to his son Francis de Vic. The second was Gaetan 
de Ceccano count de Fondi. If we were to form a 
judgment of these two lords from the character the 
tribune gives them in his letter to the pope, dated 

F 


66 


THE CONSPIRACY 


July 7, 1347, it must be a bad one indeed. He 
accuses them with fratricide, and says, that as they 
resembled each other in the first crime, they were 
not less unlike in that of rebellion. The accusation 
against the prefect was declared in general terms, 
but that against the count in particular, being 
charged with other murders. However high these 
accusations may appear, it is certain if we look into 
the characters of most of these petty tyrants, who 
during the absence of the popes appropriated to 
themselves the church lands, we find them no ways 
scrupulous in committing the blackest crimes to 
aggrandise themselves and maintain their usurpation. 
As enraged as the tribune was against them, they 
could not imagine he had said so much upon their 
account. The war which Francis de Vic afterwards 
waged against the Romans, sufficiently demonstrated 
the seditious spirit of his father, which he in¬ 
herited. 

Rienzi, highly incensed against these rebels, who 
were the only two that had dared to oppose him, re¬ 
solved to push them in a manner that should con¬ 
vince them their resistance was not to be passed over 
with impunity; but as he thought himself not strong 
enough to attack both at one time, he chose to begin 
with the commandant of Viterbo, whose opposition 
stung him more sensibly than that of the count, 
which was not so openly avowed. Besides the town 


OF GABRINI. 


67 


of Viterbo, which John de Vic ruled with despotic 
sway, he possessed some small garrisons and forti¬ 
fications, especially one esteemed impregnable, which 
was called the Rock de Respampano. The tribune 
designed (agreeable to his eighth regulation) to seize 
upon these places under pretence of the public 
safety, and to take from those who commanded them 
the power of making them the receptacles of robbers, 
who divided the spoil with them, as was openly prac¬ 
tised before the elevation of Rienzi. Fort Respam¬ 
pano was a most convenient place for robbers; the 
tribune, who knew it would be commodious also for 
him, summoned the prefect to restore it to the 
people of Rome, to whom he said it of right be¬ 
longed. The prefect, however unwilling to draw so 
formidable an enemy upon him, could not consent to 
yield up the place he most valued. He evaded as 
long as possibly he could the demand, until Rienzi, 
seeing these ways of negociation were of no effect, 
determined to reduce him by force to his obedience. 
But before he sent his army into the field, to add a 
greater weight to his arms, he proceeded in a legal 
manner against the prefect of Viterbo. After send¬ 
ing him a new citation to appear before him and 
account for his conduct and his unjust possession of 
Respampano, he pronounced, in the presence of all 
the people assembled, sentence of condemnation 
against him ; wherein, styling him no more than 

f 2 


68 


THE CONSPIRACY 


plain John de Vic, he declared him an enemy of 
God and the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, 
a fratricide, a traitor, and a rebel to the Roman re¬ 
public, and as such degraded and deprived him of 
all office and dignity. 

He informed all the cities, towns, and villages 
under his jurisdiction, or in his alliance, with this 
sentence, and invited them to join with him against 
the common enemy. The universal desire shown 
to second his zeal answered the high idea conceived 
of a man, whom they esteemed no less than the 
restorer of public liberty. Far from diminishing 
his reputation and credit, he daily increased both. 
The towns of Perusa, Todi, Nardo and others, who 
were in a condition of furnishing troops, sent with 
the utmost despatch their all. Manfred, lord of 
Corneto, brought his soldiers, and headed them in 
person ; a number of Roman lords listed themselves 
under the tribune’s banner. In a few days his army 
was seven thousand strong ; six thousand foot and 
one thousand horse, a most considerable army at 
that time, as the demesnes of the church, which was 
before divided into lordships and republics, could not, 
even the most powerful of them, keep five hundred 
men in pay. 

The tribune, after humbling the nobility, sought to 
bring them over to him by marks of esteem and con¬ 
fidence. To put them at the head of his troops he 


OF GABRINI. 


69 


judged the most efficacious method. To keep an 
equal balance between the Colonnas and Ursinis, 
whose houses, as the most powerful, divided the 
rest of the nobility, he thought proper to give the 
command of the army which he was sending against 
the prefect de Vic to one of the Ursinis ; and to 
appoint one of the Colonnas to command the troops 
which he should hereafter send against the count de 
Fondi. It was not looked upon as prudential in the 
tribune to trust his troops to those chiefs he had so 
ill used, whom, if occasion offered, they might turn 
against him; it is true the ancient antipathy between 
those two great families took away in some measure 
the apprehension of their ever joining against a man 
who had the entire affection both of his troops and 
officers. The person he made choice of to command 
the army against John de Vic was Nicholas Ursini, 
with whom he nevertheless joined Jordan Ursini as 
council. 

The army marched at first against Vetralla, a 
small town in sight of Viterbo. They besieged it in 
form. During the siege, which lasted two whole 
months, there was no kind of hostility omitted 
over all the neighbouring country. They made 
incursions even to the very gates of Viterbo, the 
inhabitants of which could from their walls behold 
the dismal havoc they made upon their lands, plun¬ 
dering and taking away all they found, and setting 


70 


THE CONSPIRACY 


fire to whatever they could not remove. Such was 
the manner of waging war before the invention of 
gunpowder, which was thirty-one years afterward, in 
1378, and which was not introduced into Italy till 
two years after the invention, 1380. Battles before 
that time were less bloody. Before the invention of 
gunpowder, says an Italian * author, war in Italy was 
carried on with so much humanity, that when night 
drew on, both parties lighted their flambeaux, by 
which light the officers of the besiegers and besieged 
wrestled with each other without any animosity, 
merely to pass time away as at a tournament. I 
remember to have somewhere read of one of these 
battles in Italy, where out of two considerable armies, 
one man only was found dead, who, happening to fall 
in the fight, and not being able to get up again, was 
trampled under foot. 

But to return to the siege of Vetralla: the besieged 
tired by its continuance, by the resolution of the 
besiegers, and by the devastation which they had 
made in sight of them, made a truce. But, notwith¬ 
standing the town surrendered, the castle held out 
with such bravery, that the besiegers resolved to 
attack it with redoubled force. They turned their 
whole artillery then in use against it; they made a 
machine of an extraordinary size, which they fixed 


* Baltk. Bonnifacius. 


OF GABRINI. 


71 


against the gates of the castle, intending the next 
day to break through ; but the besieged sallied out 
in the night with vast quantities of pitch, turpentine, 
oil, and other combustibles, with which they set it 
on fire ; the next day the besiegers found their new 
Babel consumed to ashes. 

The tribune, informed of this ill success, was ex¬ 
cessively irritated at the opposition of the besieged, 
plainly foreseeing that if the castle held out as long 
as the town had done, he should scarcely have time 
to besiege Viterbo; in this manner, at least, he had 
promised himself to reduce the prefect de Vic this 
campaign. 

In the meanwhile he understood that the Count 
de Fondi was raising forces to withstand him; he 
was the more perplexed, as he received certain infor¬ 
mation of that lord being encouraged and underhand 
seconded by one of the two principal officers, who at 
that time governed for the pope the dominions of 
the church ; and that the prefect, John de Vic, was 
supported by the other. 

Of these two officers of the pope, one was Peter 
du Pin, whom Clement VI., in a letter which he 
wrote to him that year, appointed vice-rector of St. 
Peter’s patrimony in Tuscany; he upheld John de 
Vic. The other, whose name is not mentioned, and 
who underhand supported the count de Fondi, 
governed under the title of Count of the Boman 


72 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Provinces. It was generally thought that these 
officers acted in this affair without orders from the 
pope, particularly the count’s supporter, who had no 
other view than that of obliging the cardinal Cec- 
cano, to whom count Fondi was nearly related ; at 
least it was assured that it was two months after 
these troubles the vice-rector received orders from 
the pope to keep himself upon his guard against any 
surprise from Rienzi, by which it appears that, till 
that time the holy father, had not mistrusted him 
or prepared against him as an enemy. 

Nevertheless the tribune, who judged the pope’s 
intention by the sentiments he conceived himself 
of the pope, and persuaded that Clement looked upon 
him as a dangerous man, persuaded himself that the 
lieutenants by his orders encouraged the two rebel 
lords; and as the regard which he had at all times 
affected for the authority of the sovereign pontiff, 
gave him a right to expect assistance, he determined 
to send his complaints, in such a manner, however, as 
without prejudicing his holiness, should fall only on 
the lieutenants in Italy. 

He sent a letter, dated July 7, 1347, to the pope, 
which letter alone is sufficient to give a just idea of 
the surprising genius and boldness of this personage : 
to behold a man, at the very time he is exhausting 
himself in protestations of attachment to the church 
and pope, whom he acknowledges his sovereign, not 


OF GABRINI. 


K 


73 


only avowing facts, which carry an absolute inde¬ 
pendence of all superior power, and making of no 
account the pope himself by his encroachments upon 
his authority, but even persuading himself that all 
his undertakings proceeded from a divine inspiration 
and the motion of the Holy Ghost. 

He began in terms full of respect, “ the most Holy 
Father and most clement Lord,” which he often 
repeated : but if by the expression lord, which denotes 
sovereignty, he pretended to acknowledge that of the 
pope, he immediately cancelled it by other expres¬ 
sions and titles which he arrogated to himself. For to 
the usual date of the month and year, he added, “ the 
first year of the republic’s deliverance,” and styled 
himself “ Nicholas, severe and clement; Tribune of 
Liberty, Peace and Justice, and the illustrious Deli¬ 
verer of the sacred Roman Republic.” Flis whole letter 
was of a piece. Whenever he mentioned the city 
of Rome, or the people, to the pope, he styled them, 
“ your city of Rome;” “ your great city;” “your 
Romans;” “your sacred Romans;” but at the 
same time let him know, that this same city of Rome, 
these same Romans, had taken an oath to defend the 
government which he had established, according to 
those regulations that the Holy Ghost had inspired 
him to draw up, for the honour and respect clue to 
the church of Rome and his holiness. 

After giving a long detail of the restitution of the 


74 


THE CONSPIRACY 


places and forts possessed by the petty tyrants, the 
taking away of the grandees’ barriers and their arms, 
and his other exploits, he informed his holiness that 
he had raised the duty upon salt, which before was a 
mere trifle, to the sum of three hundred thousand 
florins, an exorbitant sum in those days ; and that 
he had also revived an ancient tribute of one carline 
and fourpence for firing, which had not been paid a 
long time since: “ Thanks,” said he, “ to the good 
governors of the city for that.” This news would 
not have been so disagreeable to the pope, if Rienzi, 
in the account which he gave of the finances and their 
increase, had acquainted his holiness that it was for 
his benefit; but, alas ! the application of them the 
tribune reserved for himself. 

In every account of his actions to the pope, he 
made the Holy Ghost their author. The name of 
the Holy Ghost was used in every phrase, with a 
small variation only of his attributes. “ So great is 
the grace, so great is the goodness, so great is the 
clemency, so great is the inspiration, so great is the 
assistance, the fire and fervour of the Holy Ghost, 
who enlightened and animated him,” he said, “ in 
all his designs.” 

But to come to the principal motive of this letter, 
he made high complaints not only of the manifest 
partiality of the two lieutenants of the pope in 
favour of his enemies, but also of their bad conduct, 


OF GABRINI. 


75 


and their prevarication in the execution of justice. 
Having- called John de Vic an enemy to God and 
the holy apostles, St. Peter and Paul, whose cause, 
said he, I will espouse, and a traitor and rebel to the 
pope’s sacred Romans, as well as to his person and 
government, he informed his holiness of the sen¬ 
tence he had pronounced in full senate against him, 
and that he actually kept him closely besieged at 
Viterbo. He thus addressed himself to the holy 
father:— 

“ It is a grief to me to tell, much more to undergo 
the obstacles I meet with, from the persons from whom 
I expected favour and support. The rector of the patri¬ 
mony of St. Peter in Tuscany, burying in oblivion 
the mischiefs which that traitor, John de Vic, hath 
brought upon the church of Rome, as well as upon 
his own person, hath joined in an impious league 
with him, and without right or reason furnished him 
with succours to support his rebellion against the 
Romans. The count in the provinces acts in like 
manner with the count de Fondi. 

te I should have rejoiced to conceal from your 
holiness the wickedness of these two officers, but the 
notoriousness and evidence of their crimes will admit 
of no screen. Both of them, I call God to witness, 
have an insatiable thirst after gold ; no zeal, no regard 
for justice or the honour of the church and your holi¬ 
ness. The rector favours the attempt, and espouses 


76 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the interest of those tyrants who possess themselves 
of your lands and those of the church; instead of 
recalling-, as he can and ought to do, if he had the 
least reg-ard for your honour, many poor families 
banished by the tyrants, he leaves them abandoned 
and dispersed about in other countries. 

“ As to the count in the provinces, he for a small 
sum absolved Noffi and Chicci de Checano, who first 
robbed and afterwards murdered one of their parents, 
with two of their children : he absolved likewise the 
count de Fondi, who perfidiously and treacherously 
assassinated Francis de Checano and Reynold de 
Murolo, whom he had invited to dine with him ; and 
who caused above an hundred foreigners to be robbed 
and inhumanly killed in his territories, who were 
passing- to Rome, and from thence to Smyrna, during 
the time of the holy war. The same count absolved 
also John de Pileo, for one hundred florins, the 
heinous sin of parricide. To conclude, Angelo de 
Montaleon, the count’s brother, is set out at the 
head of four companies of horse to assist the Hun¬ 
garians against the interests of the church. 

“ I leave it to your holiness’s consideration,” con¬ 
tinued the Tribune, “ whether or not a conduct so 
guilty becomes those officers who command under 
your name. 

“ Let me beseech your sacred clemency, then, with 
all respect, earnestness and humility, by the affection 


OF GABRINI. 


77 


it bears the city of Rome and all the provinces apper¬ 
taining to it, to give such orders to those who com¬ 
mand, whom in veneration of your holiness I honour 
as my fathers, as may wipe away the scandal which 
this division between them and your Romans hath 
occasioned, and prevent the like mischievous conse¬ 
quences for the future.” 

He repeated at the conclusion of his letter the 
confusion which the two lieutenants had caused, and 
the danger a country lies exposed to, when the master 
of it is long absent. 

“ I cannot pass by in silence,” said he, “ an abo¬ 
minable custom introduced by the aforesaid gover¬ 
nors of the provinces, sea-ports and patrimony. The 
subaltern officers quartered in the towns and castles, 
prevent the judges in those places executing justice, 
by compounding for murders, robberies, and other 
crimes, with those who commit them; taxing mur¬ 
der at ten florins, and the rest in proportion ; which 
trifling recompence, or to speak more properly, im¬ 
punity, is become by the most pernicious example 
an incitement to commit them. 

“ As to the rest, I freely offer to make good and 
prove all that I have here advanced, upon pain of 
excommunication and eternal damnation.” 

Having sent these despatches away, Rienzi lost no 
time; he made known to his army that he was 
coming to join them with fresh forces, and carry on 


78 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the war with greater vigour than ever. This was 
sufficient to alarm the prefect de Vic. That gover¬ 
nor, who till now had never staggered hut held out 
bravely, notwithstanding the desolation the army 
had made in sight of him, upon advice of the tri¬ 
bune’s preparing to come in person against him, was 
struck with terror: the idea only of the presence of 
a man who had rendered himself formidable through¬ 
out Italy, had a much greater effect upon him than 
the view of the dismal havoc which his numerous 
army had made. He surrendered, and sent deputies 
to the tribune to procure a peace. The tribune 
made the same propositions he had often sent to the 
governor, which were in effect, that John de Vic 
should come in person to Rome to submit himself 
to the people and the tribune, and surrender the 
castle of Respampano; upon these conditions he 
should continue prefect of Viterbo, and the other 
places he possessed, and be restored to all his titles 
and dignities, which the sentence declared forfeited. 

John de Vic, terrified at the invincible inflexibility 
of Rienzi, and the detention of the two lords, 
Stephen Colonna and Jordan de Marini, who were 
kept prisoners a long time, accepted the propositions 
without hesitation. In conformity to this treaty 
he set out for Rome, escorted however by sixty 
troopers. He entered the capitol about three 
o’clock in the afternoon ; he was very uneasy, not- 


OF GABRINI. 


79 


withstanding his escort, upon seeing all the gates 
shut in an instant, and hearing the capitol bell ring 
to call together the people, who assembled in a mo¬ 
ment. The tribune soon put him in heart again. 
He summoned his senate (as he used to call these 
sort of farces), on purpose to show the governor the 
grandeur of the Romans and the dignity of the tri¬ 
bune. He acquainted them, that John de Vic had 
voluntarily submitted to the people; upon which 
account he again invested him in the prefecture of 
Viterbo, and restored to him his other prerogatives, 
that he might seem to hold all from the tribune, who 
had the power to confer or take away places and 
honours. In the meanwhile he had the policy to 
detain the prefect, and continue the blockad6 at 
Viterbo, until he was assured that the fort Res- 
pampano was put into the hands of the syndic of 
Rome. 

An accident happened which contributed not a 
little to the cheats of Rienzi, who would have passed 
for a man inspired from above ; and the folly of the 
people in believing that he was so. The night before 
the agreement with the governor of Viterbo, as the 
tribune slept on one of his superb beds, which 
equalled in magnificence those of sovereign princes, 
being in his first sleep, he cried out with a loud 
voice, i( Leave me, leave me.’ His valets de 
chambre run : <f Where is my lord ? What will you 


80 


THE CONSPIRACY 


be pleased, sire, to have ?” He awaked. “ Nothing,” 
said he, “ I w'as dreaming; methought a monk in 
white came to me, and said, take the rock of Res- 
pampano, I yield it to you; upon which he squeezed 
my hand, which made me cry out in that manner.” 
This dream was verified in every respect the next 
day. Among the besieged at Viterbo, there was a 
knight called Brother Acuto d’ Assise, of the order of 
Hospitalers, a man singularly renowned for virtue. 
The monastics of all orders, moved with the devasta¬ 
tions the army made in the country, earnestly 
beseeched him to interpose, and endeavour to bring 
about an accommodation between the Romans and 
the prefect of Viterbo; they prevailed with him at 
length to grant their request. He arrived at Rome 
he day after the dream, at the very time Rienzi was 
sitting in his tribunal and giving audience to the 
people, who filled the whole market-place. Brother 
Acuto appeared at the corner of the street, cloathed 
in white, riding on an ass with white housing, car¬ 
rying in his hand and upon his head olive branches in 
tokens of peace, and surrounded by a vast multitude 
of people. As far distant as the tribune was, he 
cried out, “ Behold the monk in my dream.” The 
compliments paid him upon this occasion were 
amazing ; the infatuated Romans believed the knight 
to be the identical monk in the dream, who said 
to Rienzi, “ Take the rock of Respampano, I yield 


OF GABRINI. 


81 


it to yon.” The knight returned soon afterwards, 
the castle was surrendered, the Roman army re¬ 
turned in triumph, and, like the knight, crowned with 
olive branches. 

It was not without reason the tribune was so reso¬ 
lutely bent upon the possession of this fortress. He 
knew well that other important places would imme¬ 
diately submit to his citation upon the surrender of 
it; that when they understood the only man, who 
had dared to hold his head up, had been obliged to 
throw himself at his feet, they would follow imme¬ 
diately his example. Thus within the space of a few 
months he put in execution his eighth regulation, in 
regard to the fortified places, which he wanted to be 
sole master of in the name of the people ; a regulation 
accounted chimerical and impracticable by all men of 
sense. This expedition was the more considerable, 
as it produced the submission of the count de Fondi, 
who, notwithstanding he was underhand (as was 
before observed) supported by the count in the pro¬ 
vinces, was unable to withstand the forces of John 
Colonna, whom the tribune sent against him; and 
surrendered himself, with the countries he governed, 
as the prefect of Viterbo had done. 

Ilienzi, in bringing these places under his subjec¬ 
tion, rendered himself as powerful without the walls 
of Rome as he already had within. He was now so 
formidable, that no lord, however rich or numerous 

G 


82 


THE CONSPIRACY 


his house, presumed to make the least opposition. 
He made all the grandees of Rome tremble. He 
placed them at certain hours in their ranks at his 
court, where they appeared in his presence with an 
humility that drew pity even from the people, who 
some months before had felt the severe effects of 
their pride and cruelty. He built a magnificent 
chapel in the capitol, encompassed with iron rails; 
he kept a numerous clergy, who celebrated mass with 
the utmost pomp and solemnity. Rienzi in this 
chapel was seated on a throne, with the Roman 
nobility before him, always standing with their arms 
crossed upon their breasts. Fear and interest made 
them all cringe to him, and attend at the appointed 
times his levee. Even those whose places kept 
them at a distance from Rome, were not less earnest 
in making their court to him. The governor of 
Viterbo, for whom the tribune had shown so little 
regard, to convince him of his respect and attach¬ 
ment, sent his son with a superb equipage to live 
near his person as a pledge of his fidelity. 

Women, whose husbands are elevated to a supe¬ 
rior rank in the world, generally assume an air of 
grandeur even superior to them. The consort of 
Rienzi, whose youth and beauty, added to the splen¬ 
dour of her fortune, on her part maintained with 
more magnificence the rank in which the elevation 
of her husband had fixed her. Whenever she ap- 


OF GABRINI. 


83 


peared in public, if she went no farther than St. 
Peter’s church, she was attended by a court more 
brilliant than that of Rienzi. A train of ladies of 
the first quality followed her, as her ladies of honour ; 
a troop of young- gentlemen in arms escorted her, 
and a number of young ladies walked before her with 
fans in their hands to prevent the heat and the flies 
discommoding her. The whole family of Rienzi par¬ 
took of his fortune. He had an uncle, named Bar- 
bieri, who was in reality a barber both by name and 
profession; to blot out the ignominy of his profes¬ 
sion, he changed his name to that of John Roscio, 
and he was raised to the highest places in the govern¬ 
ment. He always appeared in public on horseback, 
accompanied by the chiefs of Rome, who were in 
hopes of obtaining favours of the nephew by their 
respects shown to the uncle. Rienzi had also a 
sister, a widow, whom the lord of Castella thought 
not unworthy to espouse. He advanced all his 
relations in general according to their degrees of 
proximity, and made them lords, without any regard 
to their capacity or merit. 


84 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK V. 

Rienzi had now established so great a reputation 
over Italy by his unwearied and upright administra¬ 
tion of justice, that all principalities and powers, the 
most remote, appealed to his tribunal as universal 
judge; a character he supported with uncommon 
dignity. At his first summons both plaintiff and 
defendant left their habitations and estates to throw 
themselves at his feet: his decrees were looked upon 
as oracles, from whence there could be no appeal. 
The guilty foreigner received from him a penance 
equal to that of his own subjects. A Jew immensely 
rich was murdered bv a Perusian without the least 
discovery or suspicion of the murder; the affair was 
brought before the tribune as the Solomon of the 
age. Numbers of unfortunate foreigners, banished 
by faction their native country, threw themselves 
into his arms, and implored his interest to be re¬ 
stored : he gave them his promise, and he fulfilled 
it. The roads of Rome were night and day filled 


OF GABRINI. 


85 


with travellers, some to plead before him their 
causes, some to partake of the benefit of trade and 
commerce, which he had happily revived, and others 
merely to gratify their curiosity in seeing a man who 
governed in so wonderful a manner. The inns of 
Rome were neither large nor numerous enough to 
entertain the vast multitudes that flocked from all 
parts: victuallers were obliged to rebuild their 
houses, laid almost in ruins by the confusion of the 
preceding administration. The affluence of the 
merchants plainly demonstrated the flourishing con¬ 
dition the tribune had flattered himself he should 
procure for them. Many noble, though unfortunate 
exiles appeared again, and enjoyed the blessings of a 
tranquillity they had long since been strangers to. 

The tribune, flushed with his success, judged no 
time so proper as the present to make himself in 
appearance, what he undeniably was in reality, abso¬ 
lute master. Although the pope’s vicar, whom he 
had politically desired for his associate in the govern¬ 
ment, had never yet taken the least umbrage at his 
proceedings, he declared he could no longer suffer 
that good prelate to administer with him. Desirous 
always of managing the holy father, he at the same 
time sent an ambassador to Avignon, to acquaint that 
court with the prodigious progress of what he was 
pleased to call the Good Establishment. The pope 
and cardinals were so surprised at the information, 


86 


THE CONSPIRACY 


that the ambassador on his return assured Rienzi 
they could not persuade themselves it was true: if 
it was, that it carried at least every appearance of 
a miracle. But the news which came from all 
quarters, and the splendour of the numerous em¬ 
bassies at Rome from all the countries of Italy, as 
well as the kingdoms adjacent, soon removed their 
doubts, and set the matter beyond all dispute. 

It was not the exiled, the oppressed only, who 
came to plead at the tribunal of Rienzi. States, 
republics, and crowned heads made at the same bar 
their appearance. The ambassadors, who arrived at 
Rome almost at the same time, gave such a lustre 
to the glory of the tribune, as caused the Romans to 
imagine the time was now approaching, when Rome 
(according to his predictions) should behold kings 
laying down on heaps their sceptres, and acknow¬ 
ledging her to be the seat of empire. There was no 
considerable state in Italy but sent an ambassador 
extraordinary—Florence, Arrezo, Velletri, Trivoli, 
Fologni, &c. Every ambassador was of the highest 
distinction by birth, merit, and knowledge. All 
offered the Romans, in the person of the tribune, 
from their respective masters, men and money for 
the benefit of the good establishment. Such effect 
had the name of Rienzi, resounded over Europe, upon 
its potentates ! Perusa sent two ambassadors for 
each of its cinque ports, all of the first quality, and 


OF GABRINI. 


87 


i 

attended each by ten soldiers, who formed a son of 
little army, and often shone at the tournaments of 
Rome. 

Florence no less distinguished herself by the 
magnificence of her embassy. The republic of 
Venice sent a letter sealed with lead, wherein she 
offered all her subjects and possessions to that idol, 
the good establishment. The tyrant of Milan 
Luchino Visconti, joined heart and hand, and 
determined to follow the plan, in order to suppress 
the power of his own nobility, yet proceed with 
prudence and caution. It was particularly remarkable 
that Gaeta, willing to free herself from the pope’s 
dominion, sent the tribune a present of ten thousand 
florins, which he accepted without the least scruple 
or hesitation. A proof sufficient, notwithstanding 
all his protestations, of his regard for the court of 
Avignon. 

The tribune found not at first the same favourable 
dispositions in some of the other petty tyrants of 
Lombardy. The governor of Bologna, the mar¬ 
quis of Ferrara, the governors of Verona and 
Mantua, and several more, had at first sent couriers 
only without any regard; but afterwards, upon 
mature deliberation on all that had passed, they sent 
their ambassadors with the same pomp and the same 
offers as the other princes. 

The embassy of the emperor, although a private 


88 


THE CONSPIRACY 


one, was more honourable than all the rest for 
Rienzi, upon account of the esteem and confidence 
of so puissant a monarch. Lewis duke of Bavaria, 
had (as we have observed before) been excommu¬ 
nicated by the pope the preceding - year, and seen 
his rival Charles of Luxembourg* nominated by his 
holiness emperor, and who, by the death of his 
father king - John, killed at the battle of Cressy the 
26th of Aug-ust, 1346, became king - of Bohemia. 

The duke of Bavaria, tired with the troublesome 
life he had led for the space of thirty-two years since 
his election, occasioned by his divisions with the 
popes in Germany and Italy, made new efforts to 
bring - about a reconciliation with the holy see. He 
conceived a high opinion of Rienzi, and made 
choice of him as his most efficacious mediator with 
Clement VI. to procure a sincere accommodation, 
and take off his excommunication, which he had 
sent by the hands of his ambassadors. We shall 
see presently with what air the tribune undertook 
the management of this affair, vainly imagining 
himself the arbiter of every prince and potentate. 

Two crowned heads courted his protection, and 
submitted to his arbitration. But of all the embassies 
he had yet received, none yielded his glory so great 
a lustre as that sent him about the beginning of 
October, upon occasion of the tragical death of 
Andrew king of Naples. Before we relate an event 


OF GABRINI. 


89 


so memorable to posterity, and glorious to Rienzi, 
it is highly necessary to go back to those that 
happened some time before. 

Robert king of Naples died on the 19th of 
January, 1343, in the eightieth year of his age, and 
thirty-third of his reign. “ He was,” says Villani, 
“ the wisest king the Christian world had beheld for 
five centuries past. A prince of vast sense and 
knowledge, a great divine, and an excellent philo¬ 
sopher ; he was a kind master, a lover of his people; 
endowed with every virtue; he was indeed in his 
old age somewhat covetous, yet that foible was 
excusable upon account of the wars of Sicily, which 
he was desirous of recovering. Such a lover of the 
sciences, that being one day rallied for a taste so 
uncommon in princes, he replied, he would sooner 
renounce his crown than his book.” 

As his son the duke of Calabria was dead, who 
left issue two daughters very young, Robert, on his 
death-bed, thought to cut a masterly stroke of policy, 
and restore his kingdom to the children of Charobert, 
who was of an elder branch and king of Hungary, 
by marrying these two young princesses to the sons 
of that monarch. The one of them, whose name 
was Andrew, he sent for to his court, and gave him 
in marriage the princess Jane, presumptive heiress 
to the kingdom of Naples, upon condition that the 
crown should descend to the youngest princess, if 


90 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the eldest should happen to die without issue, and 
that prince Andrew, whom he had created duke of 
Calabria, should by no means be proclaimed king-, 
nor his princess queen, till he had attained to the 
age of twenty-two, and she to that of twenty-five. 
Robert died and left a vast treasure to the princess 
Jane and her consort, for w'hom she had no love. 
Robert had left the administration of the kingdom 
to his second wife Sanche of Arragon (who retired 
soon after to a convent), Philip bishop of Cavaillon, 
and other lords. Ambition and the power of a 
crown soon embarrassed that court, deprived of an 
old king who had long governed it, devoted to a 
wicked ministry, ruled by a young queen and her 
sister, and further embroiled by Clement VI., who 
pretended that the government of the kingdom of 
Naples belonged to him by right during the minority 
of queen Jane. He sent thither cardinal Americus 
de Chatelus his legate in Italy, after he had declared 
by a bull, dated in November 28, 1343, that king 
Robert had no power to nominate the guardians of 
queen Jane, at least not for the time specified in his 
will, that what he had done was invalid, and that, 
upon pain of excommunication, he charged the 
administrators nominated not to accept of the charge. 
During these troubles Charles de Duras, by means 
of his uncle cardinal de Talayrand, obtained a dis¬ 
pensation from the pope to espouse the princess 


OF GABRINI. 


91 


Mary, sister to the young 1 queen his relation, who, 
by the will of Robert, was designed for Lewis, eldest 
son of the king of Hungary. But the ambition of 
Charles, who by this marriage would have cleared a 
way to the throne without the least regard to the 
will of Robert, cost him soon afterwards a life, as he 
was supposed to be concerned in the murder of 
Andrew, in order to mount himself thereupon, which 
horrid crime and bloody tragedy it was also thought 
his uncle the cardinal gave a sanction to. Be that 
as it may, it is certain that queen Jane gave her 
consort a perpetual uneasiness. Her youth, her 
imprudence, her light behaviour, and the intrigues 
of her court, contributed to make his marriage 
unhappy, and cause him to fall a victim at the age 
of nineteen, on September 18, 1345. The king was 
as ready as the count was averse to go to the bed 
of the queen his consort. He was called away upon 
some pretence of business of consequence. He was 
obliged to come through a gallery where were 
several lords with their officers. He had scarcely 
come out of his wife’s apartment, before they sud¬ 
denly shut the door upon him, and seized his person. 

One assassin gagged his mouth to prevent his 
outcry, a second threw a slip knot over his head, 
while a third pulled him by the feet. No cruelty 
was omitted to hasten the death of this unfortunate 
The murderers threw him out of the win- 


prince. 


92 


THE CONSPIRACY 


dovv in order to bury the body immediately, that 
their guilt might be concealed, but were prevented 
by a domestic, an Hungarian, who saw them, and 
made an outcry, which obliged them to make off 
without executing their design. The queen was 
universally suspected of being an accomplice in this 
black affair, but never proved so. Several histo¬ 
rians have accused her; several have justified her. 
Those who have accused her pretend that one day y 
when she was twisting a string of gold and silk, her 
husband asked her for whom she was making that; 
she replied, To strangle you, my dear. A reply that 
had no great probability of earnest, but seemed 
rather a banter. King Andrew might give some 
reason for dislike in a court so widely different from 
that of Hungary, wherein he had been educated. 
He let fall after this incident some menaces in 
presence of the queen and some lords of the court, 
whereby he intimated, that as soon as he was 
crowned, he should take revenge on all those who 
had before offended him. But without entering 
farther into the discussion of an intrigue, which 
must always remain in obscurity, it is sufficient to 
say, that this grand event became the discourse of 
all Europe, and procured for Rienzi a character the 
most glorious for a sovereign, that of being arbiter 
of the differences subsisting between the princes of 
the earth his contemporaries. 


OF GABR1NI. 


93 


Lewis of Anjou, first of that name, king- of Hun¬ 
gary, and brother of Andrew, sent to the tribune two 
ambassadors to notify the solemn embassy he was 
preparing to send to him, to make interest with him 
and the people of Rome for vengeance upon the 
murderer of king Andrew, and to put the affair 
entirely into his hands by appointing him the judge. 
The tribune, elevated to the highest degree at a 
deputation of such importance, resolved to grant an 
audience in so distinguishing a manner as should 
convey to his own people and foreigners the grandest 
ideas of the majesty of his tribunal. It was on 
a Saturday, the usual day he came to administer 
justice to the public, and inflict penalties on trans¬ 
gressors, he appeared with a crown and a leaden 
sceptre with a globe and cross. When the two 
ambassadors, who were dressed in green velvet, and 
were persons of quality, were brought before the 
tribune, he began his discourse from the last verse of 
the ninety-sixth psalm :—For he cometh to judge 
the earth, and with righteousness to judge the world 
and the people with his truth;” upon which he 
expounded to the Romans. He acquainted them 
with the cause of this embassy, and the importance 
of an affair, wherein a great king sent to demand 
justice for the assassination of a sovereign prince his 
brother. 

The queen of Naples showed no less eagerness to 


94 


THE CONSPIRACY 


engage him. She sent her ambassador with letters 
full of courtesy to Rienzi, and a private present of 
five hundred florins and several jewels to his consort, 
to engage her to prevail with him to favour her 
cause. Charles, duke de Duras, who was in the 
interest of the queen, and who was accused by the 
king of Hungary of having been the principal author 
of the death of his brother, sent likewise to implore 
his protection, and made great offers to him in a most 
obliging letter, which was thus addressed, “ To our 
dearest Friend.” But Lewis, prince of Taranto, 
who was the most interested in this unhappy affair, 
having taken in second marriage queen Jane, a year 
after the murder of Andrew, exceeded all in the 
quality and train of his ambassadors. His embassy 
was composed of one archbishop of the order of St. 
Francis, a great divine, one. nobleman, knight of the 
golden spur, and one magistrate distinguished by his 
robes, with a numerous retinue in fine liveries, made 
at Rome a most splendid appearance. 

The archbishop, admitted to an audience in pre¬ 
sence of the people, took for his text the first verse of 
the twelfth chapter of the first book of Maccabees:— 
“ Now when Jonathan saw that the time served him, 
he chose certain men and sent them to Rome, for to 
confirm and renew the friendship that they had with 
them.” He made an artful allegory and a proper 
application of the whole chapter, after which he 


OF GABRINI. 


95 


complimented the tribune upon the good establish¬ 
ment, to which he offered, on the part of his master, 
to contribute; he told him the motives of his 
journey, and implored the aid of the Romans against 
the efforts of the king of Hungary. The tribune, 
who was as well versed in the scripture as the pre¬ 
late, answered every part of his allegory with a viva¬ 
city that amazed the archbishop. Upon taking- 
leave he could not refrain from declaring that Rienzi 
was a most incomparable man for knowledge, memory 
and wisdom. 

It was certainly a glory to him, to have such a 
cause as this brought before his tribunal, and be 
tried in presence of the Romans. The tribune was 
sitting on his seat of justice, as chosen and acknow¬ 
ledged judge by two crowned heads. On one side 
were those of counsel for the king of Hungary, who 
with great eloquence set forth the horrid attempt 
made upon the person of the king of Naples, a 
young prince whose virtues rendered him worthy a 
better fate. They pleaded in the most pathetic 
terms that he had been drawn to Naples against his 
own inclination; that as soon as he arrived, in a 
manner his wife was torn from his arms under false 
pretences, but with all appearance of a design pre¬ 
meditated ; that the queen, his wife, had artfully 
been prevailed upon, by shutting the door upon him, 
to put him in the power of his assassins ; that five 


96 


THE CONSPIRACY 


or six of the principal lords of the court were actually 
seen in that fatal gallery where the unfortunate 
prince was strangled ; that as soon as they had 
executed their impious purposes, they threw the royal 
body out of the window, vainly imagining to bury 
with it their own infamy. But providence, that never 
suffers crimes so monstrous to pass unpunished, per¬ 
mitted an Hungarian to be an eye-witness of that 
dismal spectacle, and prevent by his outcry the 
assassins burying the innocent and spotless corpse. 

They endeavoured afterwards to demonstrate, in a 
manner that appeared very plausible, that it was 
impossible to justify the queen from having embrued 
her hands, in some measure, in her husband’s blood ; 
that she could not be utterly ignorant (not to men¬ 
tion the premeditated design) of that barbarous 
attack; that the circumstances of the day, the hour, 
the place, the assassins, all plead against her, and 
still more particularly her amazing negligence in not 
searching out and bringing to punishment the actors 
of that bloody tragedy. They omitted no argument 
(as^ is usual in causes of less importance), to insist 
upon circumstances, when proofs are w r anting, upon 
words of double meaning, upon the behaviour of a 
widow after the decease of her husband; that the 
queen had scarcely the decency to wait the expira¬ 
tion of the usual time of mourning; no sooner were 
the twelve months elapsed, but she married again. 


OF GABRINI. 


97 


They concluded with addresses to the tribune, that 
they were persuaded he could not so far contradict 
the high reputation he had gained over all nations 
for uprightness and justice, as to countenance a trea¬ 
son so foul and shocking to the ears of all men. 
That in the high place he tilled with so much dig¬ 
nity, he could not help seconding the just vengeance, 
which the king of Hungary was preparing to take 
upon the heads of the assassination of his innocent 
brother and king. That it would tend to his glory 
to assemble all his forces ; by which Europe, now 
waiting with impatience the issue of this important 
cause, would be convinced that crimes like this of 
murdering crowned heads, had no enemy so formi¬ 
dable as himself. 

On the other side those of council for queen 
Jane, set forth the moving case of this unhappy 
young princess, whose crown they wanted to take 
away. That she lamented much her fate in seeing 
a husband fall, who ought to have been her sup¬ 
port: to be reduced to the cruel necessity of demon¬ 
strating her innocency of a crime, which occasioned 
all her misfortunes, and to find herself answerable 
for the caprice and perfidy of his subjects. That she 
well knew with what eye of jealousy the kings of 
Hungary looked upon the crown of Naples during 
the life of king Robert; that the dissensions upon 
this account were rather suspended than smothered 

H 


98 


THE CONSPIRACY 


during- a reig-n so long and happy ; that therefore 
she prudently determined to reconcile all pretensions 
and keep the sceptre in the family, by consenting to 
marry Andrew of the elder branch ; that this mar¬ 
riage was so agreeable to their mutual interest, that 
it was most astonishing even to suspect she could 
sacrifice her crown, in sacrificing him who was its 
protector and guardian. That it was shameful to 
imagine intrigues among those little gaieties and 
juvenile pastimes, which were most innocent in a 
court where politeness and refined taste w-ere as con¬ 
spicuous as formality and austerity in that of Hun¬ 
gary. That the whole kingdom, but particularly the 
city of Naples, were witnesses of her unfeigned 
sorrow and affliction. That they were sensible of 
the orders she issued for the apprehending and 
punishing the assassins by a particular commission. 
That if she had, after a year’s widowhood, married 
again, it was merely out of regard and love for the 
kingdom deprived of its sovereign, and to put the 
sceptre into hands capable of holding it with dignity 
and maintaining it against its enemies. That all 
these suppositions, by the masterly strokes of art 
converted to realities, were the result only of the 
envy, hatred and ambition of Lewis, who coveted her 
crown. Yet she was in hopes heaven would not yet 
abandon her, and that the tribune, raised by Pro¬ 
vidence to be the asyle of injured innocence, would 


OF GABRINI. 


99 


not suffer an unfortunate young- princess to be op¬ 
pressed ; who had no other crime than an envied 
crown, no other enemy than an ambitious brother- 
in-law, and no other refuge than her arms, the eqnity 
of her cause, and the protection of the most equitable 
of all men. 

The tribune, surrounded by his officers and a 
crowded court of Romans, endeavoured to plead on 
both sides with a dignity, which the importance of 
the cause in question, the rank of the persons inter¬ 
ested, and the title of arbiter, they had pleased to 
confer on him, required. But he took care not to 
give judgment too hastily, lest he should appear 
partial in an event which he resolved to make ser¬ 
viceable to his vast designs. He considered, that on 
the one hand to grant protection to a princess, whom 
the voice of the people seemed to condemn, would 
affect his honour ; and that on the other hand to 
contribute to the resentment of the king of Hungary, 
and thereby render a powerful neighbour formidable, 
would affect his policy. He therefore thought it 
best to declare, that an affair of such consequence 
required a longer time for decision ; that he would 
examine with the chiefs of the Romans the pleadings 
on both sides, and after pronouncing to which party 
justice was due, he would, with his own arm and all 
the forces of the republic, support the judgment 
pronounced. 

h 2 


100 


THE CONSPIRACY 


The king- of Hung-ary had already had recourse to 
action. He had sent into the kingdom of Naples 
count Bons, who, with some troops, possessed him¬ 
self of Aquila, a town in the farther Abruzzo. It 
was this count who negociated with Rienzi in the 
name of the king, his master, upon the affair of 
Naples. Rienzi obtained a suspension of arms until 
the arrival and return of the ambassador he was pre¬ 
paring to send him. He likewise sent to queen 
Jane, and to the emperor, Lewis of Bavaria, making 
line speeches to both, and pretending a strong incli¬ 
nation to consent to their requests. But if credit is 
to be given to Clement VI.’s letter, the tribune had 
other views than those of adjusting the disputes 
brought before his tribunal. He was determined to 
amuse equally both parties, the king of Hungary, 
and the queen of Naples, in favour of Lewis of 
Bavaria, and make use of the one and the other in 
aggrandising himself. His policy in amusing the 
queen, was to dispossess her of her dominions by the 
means of her brother-in-law, upon condition of her 
paying the succours which he had promised her in a 
secret treaty for the county of Provence, which 
belonged to that princess, and which, for the future, 
was to be under the government of the Romans. In 
regard to the king of Hungary, he made a secret 
league with the emperor Lewis for the conquest of 
Sicily, which ought, according to the opinion of 


OF GABRINI. 


101 


Rienzi, to descend to one of the sons of the emperor. 
By this double deceit he obtained an interest with 
Lewis of Bavaria, to attain to that power and that 
kind of universal monarchy, of which he had formed 
the plan. The armies were already in motion to 
unravel the schemes, of which the king of Hungary 
and queen Jane were the dupes. Every spring of 
this intrigue moved secretly, until all were broken 
by the death of Lewis of Bavaria, and by the revolu¬ 
tions, which some time after ensued. 

To crown all these embassies, Rienzi, about the 
same time, received letters replete with civility from 
the pope, who complimented him therein upon the 
good establishment. After the example of Clement, 
the major part of the cardinals and prelates at the 
court of Avignon made him their compliments, art¬ 
fully insinuating nevertheless, that for the sake of 
piety he should take care of the patrimony of the 
church, and respect her as a good mother. 

But among all the numerous embassies received 
from, or sent to, all parts, the tribune gave his atten¬ 
tion as constantly for the good order of the city, as 
at the first days of his administration. Public safety 
remained entire. Sincerity and honesty were found 
in the markets, where fraud and deceit used to 
triumph ; cheating and tricking were effectually 
banished ; the purchaser was sure he should not be 
cheated in his commodity either in quantity or qua- 


102 


THE CONSPIRACY 


lity; the seller was obliged to declare this is good, 
and this is not. Upon the least complaint of the 
contrary made to the tribune, satisfaction was imme¬ 
diately given. He continued inexorable against 
robbery ; seldom were any committed ; one, how¬ 
ever, happened at the Castle de Capranica. The news 
soon reached Rome; Rienzi summoned the Count 
Bertollo, lord of the castle, and laid a vast fine upon 
him for not taking better care of the roads within 
his territories. By such measures as these he firmly 
established good order, and let other sovereigns see, 
that policy is as necessary in a government as an 
army. 

Nor was his severity against murder the least 
abated. Two couriers happened to meet at an inn, 
one of them perceiving the other had money, killed 
and robbed him while he was sleeping, and then 
made his escape ; the murderer was soon apprehended 
and brought to Rome; he received the sentence 
invented by cruel Mezence, to be buried alive in the 
same coffin with the body of the murdered ; which 
sentence was accordingly executed with the utmost 
rigour. 


OF GABRINI. 


103 


BOOK VI. 

It was reasonable to imagine that the tribune was now 
arrived at the summit of glory; and that having beheld 
all Italy, and crowned heads prostrate before him, he 
had nothing more to covet on the part of ambition. 
In the meantime the very man, who was powerful 
enough to make himself esteemed higher than the 
kings he had seen pleading at his tribunal, had frenzy 
enough to be made a knight; without considering 
that he must enter among the nobility he had hum¬ 
bled, lose in all probability his credit among the 
people whose rights he maintained, and that the 
title of knight must be a disparagement to the dignity 
of tribune. Either from a subtlety of policy, or from 
an intoxication of prosperity, he made known his 
intention, and fixed on the first of August for the 
ceremony. Pursuing still his romantic notions of 
ancient grandeur, he fancied that a number of festi¬ 
vals one after another equalled the magnificence of 
the old Romans. By these pompous shows he 


104 


THE CONSPIRACY 


thought also that he should engage the ambassadors*” 
to continue at Rome the whole month of August. 
Some days before the festival, which he resolved to 
make, he ordered the palace of Constantine, that of 
the pope, and the numerous apartments of St. John 
de Lateran, to be fitted up. He caused a prodi¬ 
gious quantity of tables to be made out of the 
remainder of the wood, that had been taken from 
the noblemen’s houses, and made communications 
from one place to another for the accommodation of 
the officers. 

These preparations drew a mighty concourse of 
people to Rome from the adjacent towns to be spec¬ 
tators of a sight so new. On the day appointed, all 
the streets through which the procession was to pass 
were lined with people. It began about three in the 
afternoon in the following manner:—First, a great 
number of horse, composed of all the ambassadors, 
foreigners and citizens, barons and burghers, all 
richly apparelled, and marching with ensigns and 
music, all in good order. They w ere followed by a 
large company of masks, dancers, and tumblers, with 
timbrels, bagpipes, and other instruments. Then 
the tribune’s lady on foot, but preceded by two equer¬ 
ries who held the gilded bits of a most superb horse 
richly caparisoned. She was accompanied by her 
mother, and escorted by a brilliant train of ladies, 
who attended rather through fear than affection. 


OF GABRINI. 


105 


Several trumpeters blowing by turns separated the 
procession of the ladies from that of the tribune. 
Next came a cavalcade of young gentlemen armed 
with lances. They distinguished themselves by the 
management of their horses, and by the various 
evolutions they made them perform. Twice they 
threw off their cloaks for tilting. At length appeared 
the tribune, with the pope’s vicar on his left. Before 
him marched four officers, one of them carrying a 
naked sword, which he held high above his head ; the 
second displayed the standard, on which was a sun 
in the middle of stars, with a dove carrying in his 
beak an olive branch ; the third showed the people 
a steel sceptre, which was the mark of the office of 
tribune ; and the fourth dispersed among the crowd 
a new sort of money, which the tribune had ordered 
to be coined. A body of nobility surrounded his 
person. He distinguished himself by his long robe 
of white satin wrought with gold, but more by the 
air of majesty which he displayed, among a guard of 
fifty men. With this retinue he proceeded to the 
church of St. John de Lateran, which he made choice 
of for the ceremony of his installation. 

When he entered at night, he went up to the 
chapel of pope Boniface, from whence he could see 
and hear the people. He immediately assumed his 
prophetic air, and thus addressed them : “ People 
who give ear to me, understand ; my design is this 


106 


THE CONSPIRACY 


evening- to be made a knight: retire and return 
to-morrow. You shall hear those things that shall 
glorify God in Heaven, and give joy to men upon 
earth.” This speech, together with the novelty of 
the festival, gave the people great satisfaction. 
Every thing was carried on without disturbance, 
except two men happening to have words, drew upon 
each other, but they presently sheathed again, and 
made up the quarrel; such impression had fear and 
respect on the minds of all. When the people with¬ 
drew, the priests began the office, after which the 
tribune performed an exploit, which in the end occa¬ 
sioned him much trouble. He resolved to take away 
the famous marble bathing vessel, wherein the empe¬ 
ror Constantine bathed himself, it is said, after he had 
been healed of a leprosy by pope Sylvester. This 
monument having always since been deemed sacred, 
it was looked upon as an indecent liberty in the tri¬ 
bune to take it away; the clergy were greatly asto¬ 
nished, bat they were obliged to keep their murmurs 
secret. Upon removing the vessel, he made the 
chevalier Vic Scuotto gird his sword round about 
him. To add to this indecency he committed ano¬ 
ther, far greater. He went to bed in a particular 
place of the church, inclosed by pillars, and called 
St. John’s Font. Upon his stepping into bed, an 
accident happened, which in that superstitious age, 
was looked upon as an ill omen. The bed, notwith- 


OF GABRINI. 


107 


standing* it was entirely new, fell to the ground under 
him, and in that condition he was obliged to lay all 
night. 

The next day in the morning he put on a purple 
robe, and made his minister, De Vic Scuotto, gird 
again his sword about him, who by the force of gold, 
was strongly attached to him. People flocked from 
all parts to the church to see the tribune in the new 
habit of a knight. His majestic carriage attracted 
fresh admiration and respect. He was seated upon 
a throne in the chapel of pope Boniface, and sur¬ 
rounded as usual with the principal officers of his 
court, the Roman and foreign nobility, who were 
attentive to the wonders he declared to them. He 
suspended the public curiosity by an act of piety. 
He caused a solemn mass to be celebrated with all 
the pomp and grandeur usual at the coronation of 
kings : in the middle of the service he arose from his 
seat, and advanced towards the people: he then with 
a loud voice said, “ We summon to our tribunal 
pope Clement VI. and order him to come and reside 
at Rome, his proper seat. In like manner we sum¬ 
mon the whole sacred college/’ Afterwards he sum¬ 
moned Charles, king of Bohemia, lately elected 
emperor, and Lewis of Bavaria, who had the title of 
emperor, with all the electors who had proclaimed 
Charles, king of the Romans. “ I should be glad,” 
continued he, “ to know from them the reasons that 


J08 


THE CONSPIRACY 


induced them to such an election, and upon what 
foundation they arrogated to themselves a right 
which appertains solely to the Romans, who have 
time immemorial been sovereign arbiters of the 
empire.” This said, he drew his sword, and flourish¬ 
ing it, pointed to three corners of the globe, crying 
out aloud at each, “ This is mine, this is mine, this 
is mine.” 

Raymond, the pope’s vicar, having heard the holy 
father summoned without murmuring, and quietly 
assisted during the whole mystery, at length awakened. 
He had the courage to protest in the name of the 
pope, that what he had seen and heard was entirely 
without his participation and Clement’s consent. At 
the same time he ordered a notary to draw a decla¬ 
ration and read it. No sooner had the notary began 
to read, but Rienzi made all the trumpets sound, 
and the bagpipes and other instruments play, which 
entirely prevented the people from understanding one 
word of the protest. 

When mass was ended, the tribune invited the 
people to an entertainment he had prepared in the 
three neighbouring palaces; he went himself to the 
old hall of St. John de Lateran. He took his place 
at a marble table, whereon the popes used to dine. 
He had but two covers, one for himself, the other 
for the bishop of Orvieto, the pope’s vicar. The 
new knight appeared very brilliant in the rich purple 


OF GABRINI. 


109 


robe he was arrayed in ; his hat was trimmed with 
diamonds. The other tables, set at some distance 
from his, were for the ambassadors, the nobility, and 
the gentry. The knight’s lady entertained all the 
ladies, both Roman and foreign, in the pope’s new 
palace. The rest of the apartments below in the 
three palaces were filled with the people who chose 
to come. Not one person was refused, all sat down 
without distinction of age, condition, or profession. 
Notwithstanding the vast multitude, their tables were 
served in as much order, as abundance and profusion. 
Water was more scarce than wine. During the 
repast a number of antics and tumblers danced back¬ 
wards and forwards to divert the company with their 
odd gestures and grotesque postures. The whole 
entertainment was conducted in a manner worthy the 
greatest of princes. At night the tribune returned 
to the capitol attended by the same cavalcade and in 
the same order, highly pleased with the success he 
promised himself from this new dignity. The next 
day to put it in practice, he ordered the acts of cita¬ 
tion against the pope and the emperor to be drawn 

up in form, and sent immediately couriers with them 

l( 

to Avignon and Germany. The act sent to the 
emperor, (the only one at present to be found) is 
very curious and singular, and is as follows:— 

“ For the honour and glory of God Almighty, the 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the blessed apostles 


110 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Peter and Paul, and St. John the Baptist, in whose 
sacred temple we have received the military honour 
of knighthood ; for the honour and reverence of 
the church of Rome our mother; for the pros¬ 
perity of the sovereign pontiff; for the advancement 
of the sacred city of Rome, Italy, and all the Chris¬ 
tian world; we, the new^ soldier of the Holy Ghost, 
Nicholas severe and clement, deliverer of Rome, 
zealot of Italy, lover of the whole world, tribune 
august; desirous and willing to imitate the gift of 
the Holy Ghost, and the liberty of the ancient Ro¬ 
mans, make known unto all men, that from the time 
we accepted of the high office of tribune, the Romans, 
with the advice of the judges, magistrates, and other 
eminent persons, have been satisfied that they have 
the sole right of authorising power and dominion 
upon earth, and that they have made all privileges, 
derogatory to that right, invalid and of no force. 

“ We, therefore, by virtue of this authority and 
absolute power, placed by the Romans in full senate 
in our hands, that we may not appear insensible of 
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and the favours 
conferred upon us by the Romans, and that we may 
no longer suffer them to be deprived of their rights, 
do declare and pronounce the city of Rome to be the 
capitol of the world, and the basis of Christianity, 
and that all and every one of the cities of Italy are 
free, and as such shall continue, to the end that they 


OF GABRINI. 


Ill 


may rejoice, and partake of the present liberty of 
Rome. 

“ By virtue of the same authority we protest and 
declare, that the election, jurisdiction and monarchy 
of the whole sacred Roman empire are lawfully 
invested in the Romans, as we shall at a proper 
time set forth. In the mean time, we summon by 
these presents all emperors elect, kings, princes, 
dukes, counts, and others of pre-eminence in the 
empire, to appear on the next Whitsunday (the day 
we have fixed upon before us, and the other officers 
of our Lord the pope) in the church of St. John de 
Lateran, then and there to make good their preten¬ 
sions. Upon failure hereof at the appointed time, 
they shall be proceeded against according to the rules 
of equity and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. 

“ And notwithstanding the abovesaid general sum¬ 
mons, we cite particularly and personally the illus¬ 
trious princes Lewis duke of Bavaria, and Charles 
king of Bohemia, stiled emperors elect. We cite 
also the duke of Saxony, the marquis of Branden- 
bourg, and the archbishops of Mentz, Triers, and 
Cologne to appear in person, at the time above- 
mentioned, before us and the other magistrates of 
Rome. Upon failure hereof they will be proceeded 
against as criminals, who do not appear before the 
judge.” 

At the end of this act, (taken word for word from 


112 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the Latin) Rienzi declared, that through the whole 
he had no ways acted derogatory to the duty he 
owed the pope and sacred college. A contradiction 
sufficiently evident. He declared also, that this 
act was accepted, approved of and published by the 
Romans assembled in St. John de Lateran, the first 
day of August 1347, in presence of the pope’s vicar, 
and many persons of distinction whom he named, as 
well ecclesiastical as civil. // 

We shall see hereafter the effect this extraordi¬ 
nary piece produced. It seems as if Rienzi con¬ 
sidered not so much the issue of it abroad, as the 
regard and respect it of consequence gave at home 
to a man, who dared to cite to his tribunal the great¬ 
est princes upon earth, even the pope himself. After 
all, in a character like his, composed of qualities the 
most contrary and most extravagantly whimsical, 
governed by the heat of imagination, agitated alone 
by caprice; executing the most judicious under¬ 
takings without judgment, and the most dangerous 
without courage, it is difficult to discern what views 
he could have in these kind of enterprises, wherein 

i 

appeared more extravagance than policy. To keep 
the people always in spirits, and amuse them with 
new sights, on the day of assumption he appointed a 
new ceremony, which attracted no less their atten¬ 
tion than the former. He pretended to imitate the 
ancient tribunes, who caused themselves (he said) to 


OF GABRIXI. 


113 


be crowned. He went on the day appointed to the 
church of St. John de Lateran, where he was pre¬ 
sented with seven crowns, in allusion to seven gifts 
of the Holy Ghost, whose signs and mysteries he 
impudently blended with the superstitious ceremo¬ 
nies of the pagans. The first crown was oak; the 
prior of the church de Lateran presented it to him, 
saying, “ Receive the crown of the city for deliver¬ 
ing the citizens from death.” The prior of St. Peter’s, 
in offering him a crown of ivy, said, “ Receive this 
ivy, for you have loved religion.” The third crown, 
which was myrtle, was presented to him by the dean 
of St. Paul’s : “ Receive,” said he, “ the myrtle, for 
you have observed your duty, loved instruction, hated 
avarice.” The abbot of St. Laurence without the 
walls, paid him the same compliment in presenting 
him the laurel, which he had blessed in the church. 
The olive was presented to him by the prior of St. 
Mary the Great, who said, “ Humble man, take 
this crown of olive, for your humility hath made you 
triumph over pride.” The sixth crown was silver. 
The prior of the Holy Ghost in Rocca, put it upon 
his head, and gave him the sceptre in his hand, say¬ 
ing, “ Tribune august, receive the gifts of the Holy 
Ghost, and the spiritual crown represented by this 
crown and sceptre.” The chevalier Godefroy for 
the seventh crown presented him branches of fruit 
trees, saying, “ Tribune august, receive and love the 


i 


114 


THE CONSPIRACY 


symbol of justice, give us in return liberty and 
peace.” The vicar d’Ostie was chosen to set these 
crowns in order, and the archbishop of Naples ap¬ 
pointed to take care of that of silver. As soon as 
the tribune was crowned, he had a beggar, armed 
with a sword, ready by his side to take the crowns 
off his head, imitating in this humility the ancient 
triumphers, who on the day of their triumph calmly 
bore the insults of the licentious soldiers. With 
such a mixture of grimace and grandeur did Rienzi 
blend sacred and profane, and sully alike the majesty 
of the ceremonies, and the excellency of the customs 
of the Roman empire. 

The whole was performed in presence of the am¬ 
bassadors, whom the tribune had retained, and the 
most considerable lords of Italy. But from this 
coronation his credit began to decay. The transient 
pomp of the ceremonies, with which he had at times 
amused the Romans, gave way at length to serious 
reflections. The luxury he affected in his dress and 
at his table, the numerous splendid retinue for ever 
attending him, and his sudden change from the aus¬ 
terity of a republic to the magnificence of a monarch, 
so affected them, that in whispers they asked, what 
was become of the pristine modesty he displayed with 
so much address at the beginning of his elevation. 
They murmured at his profanation of Constantine’s 
monument, and his citation of the vicar of Jesus. 


OF GABRINI. 


115 


Christ, but their murmurs blazed not out. Rienzi ? 
elevated to the highest pitch of his glory, after so 
many happy successes was more feared than ever, 
and perceived not the first motives of the veneration 
they had shown him the least altered. 

He imagined he could now attempt any enterprise 
whatever, and that this was the only time to secure 
effectually the nobility, by putting to death those 
noblemen who had the power to give him any future 
umbrage. On September 14th, 1347, in the morning, 
he sent an invitation to dinner to the ancient Ste¬ 
phen Colonna, who repaired to the capitol without 
any suspicion of the danger that attended. Rienzi 
ordered him immediately to be conducted to a sepa¬ 
rate apartment under a strong guard. At the same 
time he seized Peter Agapit Colonna, who had been 
provost of Marseilles and afterwards senator of 
Rome ; and John Colonna, to whom but a short 
time before he had given the command of the troops 
destined against the count de Fondi. Jordan de la 
Montagne, Reynold de Marino, count Berthold and 
his son, the lord of the castle St. Angelo, all of the 
house of Ursini, were likewise brought to the capitol 
with many other lords. The tribune drew them all 
into the net he had spread for them; pretending to 
some that he called them thither to consult upon 
affairs of importance, and to others, that he gave 
them an invitation to a feast, among those of the 

i 2 


116 


THE CONSPIRACY 


first rank. Luke de Saveli, Stephen Colonna the 
younger, and Jordan de Marino only escaped the 
diligent search of the tyrant. 

As this proceeding occasioned great emotions at 
Rome, he gave out that his prisoners were traitors 
to the government, and that he was obliged to secure 
them to prevent their evil designs. The credulous 
people, whom he imposed upon just as he thought 
fit, doubted not of a conspiracy formed and brought 
to light. They bestowed a thousand curses on the 
noblemen, and extolled the moderation of the tri¬ 
bune, who had contented himself with seizing their 
persons. At night, after calling together the people 
to the capitol, Rienzi ordered his prisoners to be 
brought into the great hall. Stephen Colonna, 
enraged at the unjust treatment he met with and the 
insolence of the tyrant, could no longer refrain, and 
without entering into any justification of himself, 
proposed one question to the assembly :—“ Which 
was best for the people, a profuse or a discreet 
governor?” This question, which was a severe stroke 
upon the magnificence which the tribune affected, 
and the needless expenses and vain profusion 
of the last festival, gave them room enough for 
argument. Colonna observing the disposition of the 
people, took up a lappet of the tribune’s gown, and 
said to them, “ A plain habit would better become a 
tribune of the people than this rich dress you have 


OF GABRINI. 


117 


bestowed upon him.” The intrepidity of Colonna, 
his majestic countenance, and the whispering his 
speech occasioned, made Rienzi turn pale. He broke 
up abruptly the assembly under pretence of being 
late, and postponing the affair till the next day, he 
ordered his prisoners to be kept close and well 
guarded. He had in fact their lives at command, 
and had nothing to fear from the people, whom he 
could turn as he pleased, but he had not courage 
unless assured of support. He was afraid therefore 
to put his design in execution that night. He re¬ 
tired highly chagrined at what had passed, deter¬ 
mined to sacrifice however those lords, as soon as he 
should obtain the people’s consent. They were put 
into different apartments to prevent all communica¬ 
tion. Stephen Colonna was kept in the great hall, 
without a bed to lie upon. He spent the night in 
the most cruel agitation, walking up and down the 
great stairs; sometimes knocking hard at the door, 
and beseechin gthe sentinel to enter and run him 
through the body, that he might avoid the infamous 
punishment and inhumanity of the tyrant, but all in 
vain ; the sentinel would give no ear to him, but 
barbarously left the venerable old man, who had 
been governor of Rome, to lament his hard fate, of 
being reduced to fall a victim to the frenzy of a 
madman. 


] 18 


THE CONSPIRACY 


The next day the tribune resolving- more than 
ever to rid himself of his prisoners, ordered tapestries 
of two colours, red and white, to be laid over the 
place whereon he held his councils, and which he 
had made choice of to be the theatre of this bloody 
tragedy, as the extraordinary tapestry seemed to 
declare. He afterwards sent a cordelier to^ every 
one of the prisoners to administer the sacraments, 
and then ordered the capitol bell to be tolled. At 
that fatal sound and the sight of the confessors, the 
lords no longer doubted of sentence of death being 
passed upon them. They all confessed, except the 
old Colonna, and many received the communion. 
In the meanwhile the people, naturally prompt to 
attend, when their first impetuosity had time to 
calm, could not without pity behold the dismal 
preparations which were making. The sight of the 
bloody colour in the tapestry shocked them. On 
this first impression they joined in opinion in rela¬ 
tion to so many illustrious heads now going to be 
sacrificed, and lamented more their unhappy catas¬ 
trophe, as no crime had been proved upon them, 
to render them worthy of such barbarous treatment. 
Above all, the unfortunate Stephen Colonna, whose 
birth, age, and affable behaviour commanded respect, 
excited a particular compassion. An universal sor¬ 
row and silence reigned among them. Those who 


OF GABRINI. 


119 


were nearest Rienzi, discovered an alteration. They 
took the opportunity of imploring- his mercy towards 
the prisoners in terms the most affecting and moving. 

The tribune, sensible that he had acted too rashly 
in an affair of such importance, determined to act 
his part to the best advantage. Keeping the minds 
of the people in suspense, and concealing his design 
from them, he commanded the prisoners to he 
brought to his tribunal. About nine o’clock in the 
morning they appeared like criminals led to suffer. 
Notwithstanding the grief and despair visible in 
their countenances, they showed a noble indignation, 
generally attendant on innocence in the hour of 
death. As they imagined they had no farther 
concerns in this last fatal moment, they endeavoured 
to justify themselves, and convince the people of 
their innocence; but the first had no sooner began 
his speech than the tribune caused those trumpets 
to sound, that performed so well at the vicar’s 
protest against the pope’s citation. This dreadful 
signal spread an universal belief that the unfortunate 
lords were now past redemption, and that the execu¬ 
tioners w^ere upon the point of executing their office. 
Rienzi with his accustomed air advanced to harangue 
them. He began his speech in the words of the 
Lord’s prayer:—“ Forgive us our trespasses, as we 
forgive them that trespass against us.” Fie told 
them afterw'ards that it was the duty of all men 


120 


THE CONSPIRACY 


mutually to forgive each other, that they themselves 
might obtain divine mercy, always proportioned to 
the degrees of mercy which they had shown upon 
earth. He entreated the people with tears in his 
eyes, to have some compassion for the illustrious 
prisoners, whose birth and merits deserved a fate 
less rigorous. In a word, although he w'as grieved 
at heart to behold his victims snatched from him, 
and foresaw the consequences of his first proceeding, 
he endeavoured to make a merit of it in the eyes of 
the people, by a forced complaisance, to which he 
judged himself reduced, and in the eyes of the lords 
by the eloquence he displayed in begging forgiveness 
for them; it was in fact granted, in the name of the 
Romans. Turning to the lords, he said, “ Resolve, 
for the future, to offer your lives and fortunes for 
the good of the people who have so graciously 
restored you to both.” 

The noble personages, surprised at the image of 
death, and a change so unexpected, answered only 
by a profound inclination, to assure the Romans of 
their acknowledgment and devotion. 

The tribune made no stay ; endeavouring to 
reinstate himself in the favour of his prisoners, he 
conferred a number of new titles, which were indeed 
of no cost, upon them ; he made every one of them 
a present of a rich gown, furred and ermined ; he 
invited them to dine with him. and after a magni- 


OF GABRINI. 


121 


ficent repast, be made a cavalcade with them through 
the streets of Rome, as a token of pacification. He 
nevertheless tendered them the oaths, pretended to 
be voluntary, in favour of the good establishment 
and the people, which they repeated on the 17th of 
September, having first received absolution from the 
priest in the name of the people, and the communion 
with the tribune. 


122 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK VII. 

As soon as the persecuted lords found themselves at 
liberty, terrified rather at the dangers they had gone 
through, than pleased by the good offices of the 
tribune, or secured by the compulsive oaths they 
had taken, they consulted upon retiring from Rome, 
and seeking vengeance. Some, either through fear 
or policy, refused to enter into the confederacy, and 
continued in the city. The chief of those were 
three of the house of Ursini, Nicholas lord of the 
castle of St. Angelo, Jordan de Montagne, the son 
of count Berthold, and with them the chancellor 
Malebranch. Almost all the others followed the 
Colonnas, who engaged likewise one branch of the 
house of Ursini, of which the most considerable 
were Jordan and Reynold, lords of Marino, the place 
they chose to retire to with many noblemen and 
their vassals. 

This retreat occasioned great speculation at Rome; 
the people, apprehensive of the ill consequences 


OF GABRINI. 


123 


which it threatened, began publicly to blame the 
tribune, as having acted too much or too little in 
regard to these noblemen. As for them, they began 
to palisade and fortify their palaces ; and as the 
castle of Marino was much the most convenient 
for them to carry on their enterprises, and retire to 
without hazard, they made it their heaa-quarters and 
the asylum of the faction. They worked night and 
day in repairing it, and filled it with soldiers, arms, 
and every warlike ammunition in so efficacious a 
manner, that they found themselves not only free 
from insults, but capable of sustaining a long siege. 

The tribune had the imprudence and indolence to 
see and suffer these works to be carried on, in spite 
of the murmurs of the people, and his own power to 
prevent them. The lords no sooner found them¬ 
selves in a state fit for action, but they made excur¬ 
sions upon the borders of Rome, plundering the 
country, taking away man and beast, and making 
incredible havoc. Rienzi, roused at length by the 
public clamours, acted agreeable to his natural 
timidity. He relied more upon the terror of his, 
name than of his arms. He sent a citation to the 
rebels to appear before him; who, finding them¬ 
selves in a condition of being feared, abused the 
officer whom he sent with the citation, and drove 
him from the palace of Marino with three wounds 
upon his head. To brave the tribune, they that 


124 


THE CONSPIRACY 


day continued their pillages with greater fury than 
ever. 

Rienzi, a greater bully than knight or tribune, 
took no more cognisance of these outrages than by 
sending a second citation, wherein he summoned the 
rebels to surrender themselves at his tribunal on foot 
and disarmed, upon pain of incurring his displeasure ; 
and with a mistaken show of authority caused the 
two lords of Marino to be hung up in effigy, with 
their heads downwards and their heels upwards, as 
traitors to their country, whom he declared he would 
make answerable for all the ravages which they and 
those of their party had committed in the territories 
of Rome. This bravado, which was a proof of the 
malice and weakness of the tribune, irritated more 
highly the otfended lords, who soon revenged by 
cruel reprisals the imaginary infamy he pretended to 
cast upon them. Jordan, at the head of one party, 
advanced to one of the gates of Rome, where he 
made several prisoners, and took a large booty. Rey¬ 
nold carried his resentment much farther. He passed 
the Tiber, and attacked the town of Nepete or Nepi, 
which he ransacked with unheard of inhumanity, 
burning the houses, massacreing the inhabitants, and 
putting all to fire and sword that fell in his way. 
He carried his barbarity to such a height as to burn 
down a castle wherein was a widow of quality, who 
was consumed in the flames. 


OF GABRINI. 


125 


The clamours of the people, who were enraged at 
the authors of these troubles, and the negligence of 
the tribune, obliged him at length, however unwil¬ 
ling, to put himself in arms. He formed in haste an 
army of twenty thousand foot and eight hundred 
horse; he encamped afterwards in a valley, where he 
covered himself by a wood about a mile distant from 
Marino. It being in the month of November, the 
great rains at first prevented him from making any 
motions; hut as soon as they ceased he put his 
troops in motion, who in the space of eight hours 
made so great devastation in the territory of Marino, 
that neither house or tree were left standing. He 
plucked up their vines, and spared not the wood near 
which he had encamped. 

After this expedition, carried on agreeable to the 
military custom of that age, Rienzi, judginghe had 
no necessity to attack the fort of Marino, fell upon 
the little town of Casteluzza, a small distance from 
the castle; he took it at the first onset, demolished 
the walls, and plundered the town. He had a design 
to attack the tower to which the garrison retreated, t 
for which purpose he caused great machines carried 
on wheels to be instantly made, by which he might 
play upon the besieged on their ramparts; but his 
preparations were of no effect. The besieged over¬ 
came the succours he had that moment received, and 
freed themselves entirely from their apprehensions. 


126 


THE CONSPIRACY 


He committed a mean action, which may serve, how¬ 
ever, as a proof of his character. He caused two 
dog-s to be drowned, saying they were Jordan and 
Reynold Ursini. 

In the meanwhile the pope, undeceived in the 
specious protestation of fidelity which Rienzi pre¬ 
tended in his letters, and better informed of his 
violent and tyrannic proceedings, ordered cardinal 
Bertram d'Eux, archbishop of Embrun and provost 
of Liege, to go from Naples with the character of 
legate, to inquire into these disorders, and put a 
stop to them in the best manner that possibly he 
could. But before we proceed in the narration of 
an affair, which in the end brought about the down- 
fal of the tribune, it may not be improper to give 
the original pieces, that contain the chief articles of 
Clement VI.’s displeasure. We come then to the 
letter of Rienzi, dated Sept. 17, which was as follows : 

“ As to the objections made against us at the 
court of Avignon, they are frivolous. We having 
taken the military basin of the porphyry urn wherein 
Constantine bathed himself, answer, that he went 
into it a Pagan ; but we, as a chaste and devout Chris¬ 
tian, to receive absolution from the hands of the 
vicar of our lord the pope; and that the body of 
Jesus Christ, which we so frequently with devotion 
receive, is of infinitely more value than an urn of 
porphyry. W e apprehend we have not committed 


OF GABRINI. 


127 


the most heinous crime in dining with the pope’s 
vicar, upon the same table w r e used to play dice 
upon, which was never held in less veneration upon 
that account. We have been reproached for using a 
two-edged sword - y that imputation is entirely false. 
We leave that and the other slanders to the venge¬ 
ance of the Almighty: but the people of Rome will 
have their vengeance, as they are persuaded all these 
frivolous aspersions proceed from the hatred borne to 
their nation, or from the ill-will of those who will¬ 
ingly retard the progress of the good establishment, 
or endeavour to destroy it, God knows which. It 
is certain every Roman province is amazed at the 
trifling stories current at the court of Avignon. In 
all our actions we have proceeded according to the 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the director and 
disposer of our designs. 

“We shall write but little more to our lord the 
pope, or to the cardinals, for we hope soon to send a 
solemn embassy in the name of the Romans and that 
of our own, our intention being to keep deputies at 
that court, capable of taking care of our interests. 
The God of truth, who knoweth our hearts, must 
judge between us and our detractors. We are satisfied 
we have been reviled contrary to all laws both 
human and divine; but with the wise man we may 
say, ‘ They fools counted his life madness, and his 


128 


THE CONSPIRACY 


end to be without honour ; ’ yet we trust in the Lord 
he will reward it with life eternal. 

“We must observe, that our last courier was used 
exceedingly ill; his box, which he carried by his 
side, was broke open, and our letters were taken away 
by force ; that his wand was broken over his head, 
and that he returned to us in that bloody condition. 
Such an action compels us to proceed by the rules 
of equity against the magistrates, councils, and 
commons of Avignon. Willing, however, in one 
word, to pay the respect due to the holy father, we 
remain in hopes that his holiness will, by his order, 
make restitution, and prevent for the future such 
outrages. Given at the capitol, Sept. 17, in the first 
year of the deliverance of the republic. Signed the 
new knight of the Holy Ghost, Nicholas, severe and 
clement, deliverer of Rome, lover of the whole world, 
and tribune august.” f / 

It is needless to make much reflection upon this 
letter of Rienzi. His madness in government and 
his tyrannical proceedings were the properest means 
the pope could make use of to make the Romans 
sensible of the extravagance of the tribune. It will 
therefore be more agreeable to peruse some letters 
of Clement VI., which have been preserved, wherein 
will appear the great mischief and singularity of 
this dangerous conspiracy. 


OF GABRINI. 


129 


'Clement VI. to Peter du Pin, vice-rector of the 
patrimony in Tuscany. 

“ Nicholas Rienzi, of Rome, styled the tribune, 
has thought fit to write to one of our brethren the 
cardinals, a letter to this purpose,—‘ that your emi- 
nency knowetli that this day, the 1st of September, 
almost all the inhabitants of the patrimony unjustly 
aggrieved by the officers of the church (I blush 
before God to speak it), to free themselves from the 
yoke of tyrants, and be enabled to live in peace and 
security, have with tears implored us to take the 
charge of the government upon us. As our heart is 
moved with the most lively compassion to behold 
the public miseries, we have thought it our duty to 
take that charge upon us, in order to apply the most 

salutary remedies in our power to their wounds 

♦ 

without prejudicing or giving offence to the holy 
church ; for which, and for the justice we from our 
heart desire, we would most willingly suffer death.’ 
We therefore, taking this attempt of Rienzi into our 
consideration, command you by this brief to take 
particular care that no parts of the province com¬ 
mitted to your trust be taken by force from it, but 
that you store with ammunition and defend all the 
forts. Avignon, September 20th, 1347, the sixth 
of our pontificate.” / 

The brief came too late ; Rienzi was already mas¬ 
ter of many places, as he boasted in one of his letters 

K 


130 


THE CONSPIRACY 


before mentioned. The pope, hearing-of his other 
extravag-ances, charg-ed cardinal Bertram to restrain 
him by another brief, of which the following- is an 
extract :— 

“ See that Nicholas, of whom we have already 
spoken, put an end to his mischievous proceedings 
and profane excess, especially his usurpation of the 
rights and territories of the church, his arrogant 
impositions upon the people, his attempts upon the 
whole world, and particularly against our vicar, our 
dear sons the nobility of Rome, and our dear daugh¬ 
ter in Jesus Christ, Jane, queen of Sicily; forget not 
his designs upon the county of Provence, which he 
vainly boasted he would reunite to the domains of 
the people of Rome, nor his treaties with our dear 
son Lewis, king of Hungary ; his citation of the 
princes of the empire, particularly Lewis of Bavaria, 
whom God and the church had most justly reproved, 
and whom Nicholas blushed not with lips unhallowed 
to summon. Reverse the decrees and laws he has 
established. For the rest, act agreeable to your own 
prudence and the nature of his crimes. Pronounce, 
however, sentence of excommunication against him, 
and if he continue obstinate, deprive him of the office 
of governor and all other titles, which we, to calm 
the people, vouchsafed to confer upon him.” 

Clement added, that if Rienzi refused to restore 
to the church what he had by force taken from her, 


of gabrini. 


131 


the legate should publish the apostolical diploma 
against the usurpers of the domains of the church, 
and cite Nicholas to the tribunal of the holy see; 
that he should issue out a process in form against 
him, and make strict inquiry if, among his other 
transgressions, he was not either a heretic or favourer 
of heresies; if it should be found he was, that he 
should be punished as such. He concluded, 

“ Nicholas has evaded with pride and contempt the 
advice given him by our penitentiary Bernardin, and 
made speeches replete with artifice to endeavour to 
persuade us that all his proceedings had no other 
tendency than the glory of the church and the papal 
dignity. The evil, therefore, must be nipped in the 
bud, before he can raise fresh forces; and, as we are 
sensible that the insolence of the usurper cannot be 
subdued but by force of arms, we have appointed our 
nephew Guichard de Chamborn, governor of the 
patrimony of St. Peter. We shall, if necessity 
requires, engage the forces of those princes who 
have not offended us. If you think it convenient, 
you may engage the provinces bordering upon those, 
of the church, upon reasonable conditions, for their 
alliance with us against this madman. Avignon, 
October 12, 1347, the sixth of our pontificate.” ; 

By these letters it appears to what a height of 
power Rienzi w r as arrived, wdio could by his buffoone¬ 
ries terrify a court the most subtle and politic of that 

k 2 


132 


THE CONSPIRACY 


age, to which he carried himself with so little 
regard, as scarcely to think it his duty to justify 
himself, and blended the most submissive terms with 
menaces at the very time he had usurped its power, 
and was aspiring to universal sovereignty over all, 
both temporal and spiritual. Bertram d Eux was a 
person the best qualified to suppress him. Clement 
had nominated him for Italy in 1346, but he did not 
set out till the close of that year, and came not 
to Rome till the time we are now speaking of. 
llienzi was at the head of his army in the country, 
when the legate wrote to him from the Vatican, to 
give notice of his arrival, and entreat him to come 
and receive the pope’s orders. The tribune at first 
made slight of his mission, and left him to wait in 
vain some time at Rome ; but tired at length with 
his importunities, and apprehensive besides of his 
conspiring against him, he left the country, and 
returned to Rome at the head of his army. 

He made his entry in the morning, and signalised 
his arrival by the destruction of some palaces belong¬ 
ing to the chief of the revolted nobility. He caused 
his troops to demolish them, and continuing his 
march to St. Peter’s church, he alighted and walked 
directly to the vestry. There, to imitate the Caesars, 
he put on the imperial dalmatic which the emperors 
used to wear at their coronation, then putting the 
crown on his head, and taking the sceptre in his 


OF GABRINI, 


133 


hand, he with sound of trumpet repaired to the pope’s 
palace. He bluntly thus accosted the legate : “ You 
have sent for us, what have you to order us ? ” The 
legate, astonished at his dress and compliment, 
calmly answered that he had orders from the pope to 
communicate to him. At which word the tribune 
elevated his voice, and replied in an angry tone, 
“ Ha! what orders are you come to talk to me of? ” 
This insult silenced the legate; they parted without 
expostulation, highly dissatisfied with each other. 

In the meanwhile Rienzi, without appearing cha¬ 
grined either at the presence of the legate or the 
revolt of the nobility, continued his hostilities against 
them, as they on their side did against the territory 
of Rome. Rut whether the arrival of the legate 
animated the rebels, or whether fear or cowardice 
abated the former ardour of the tribune, he was 
now no longer the same man. The people, tired of 
a civil war which detained them, equally with a 
siege, within their walls, began to discover their 
discontent, money fell short, the troops were not 
paid punctually; and, in spite of the veneration 
hitherto shown to the tribune, all seemed disposed 
to a general murmur. Some gentlemen, well assured 
of this disposition of their minds, and animated 
perhaps by that of the legate, sent information to 
the old Colonna, and promised to open the gates 


134 


THE CONSPIRACY 


of Rome to him, as soon as he should appear with 
his army before it. 

Upon this advice the Colonnas rallied their troops 
in Palestrina, and formed a body of four thousand 
foot and sixteen hundred horse. It was impossible 
to carry on this conspiracy so secretly as to escape the 
ears of the tribune. Instead of preventing- his ene- 
mies, he endeavoured to fortify himself for fear, as 
he had at first done for security. When he found 
the storm upon the point of breaking out, he fell into 
so strange an abjection of mind as made him quite 
forget his affairs. He kept himself immured in the 
capitol, without taking either part. Roused at length 
from his lethargy by approaching danger, which gene¬ 
rally furnished him with means the most singular 
and fortunate, he showed himself three days to the 
people. He harangued 'them with his usual elo¬ 
quence, endeavouring to persuade the Romans that 
in a war, which he called sacred, they had nothing to 
fear from the Colonnas. “ For last night,” said he, 
“ St. Martin, heretofore the son of a tribune, ap¬ 
peared to me and said, rest assured you will over¬ 
come the enemies of God.” As he perceived this 
pretended vision had some effect upon the minds of 
the people, the day following he ventured upon ano¬ 
ther with the same impudence ; and the better to 
prepare for it, he caused the capitol bell to be tolled 


OF GABRINI. 


135 

I 

a long time that night, which had such effect, that in 
the morning the people appeared before him under 
arms and ready to march. “ The victory is ours,” 
cried he ; “ pope Boniface appeared last night to me, 
and foretold we should sufficiently be revenged of 
the Colonnas for their cruel persecution of the church 
of God.” This vision was the more artful, as it called 
to remembrance the quarrel with Boniface VIII., and 
the attempt of Sciarra, Colonna, and William de 
Nogaret, upon the person of the pope, whom they 
used with great indignity. Rienzi told them after¬ 
wards, that he was informed by his spies, the enemy 
were encamped about four miles from Rome, near a 
place called the Monument. “ A dismal omen for 
them,” said he, “ as it denotes they will not only 
be defeated, but buried upon the spot, and that their 
field of battle must be their grave.” This said, he 
caused the trumpets to sound; he drew up his army 
in order of battle ; he nominated the generals, and 
chose for his lieutenant-generals Nicholas and Jordan 
Ursini, surnamed de la Montagne, and then marched 
through the gate of St. Laurence. 

Before we enter into the particulars of this battle, 
we must observe that the pope’s legate, who was 
retired to Montefiascone, underhand animated the 
conspiracy against the tribune. As Rienzi was 
doubtful of the governor of Viterbo, lest he should 
join the nobles, he determined to secure his person. 


136 


THE CONSPIRACY 


To accomplish his design, he sent for him under pre¬ 
tence of assisting him in the war which he w r as 
obliged to maintain. The prefect, who had con¬ 
tinued faithful, at least in appearance, since he had 
made peace, instantly obeyed him. He came to 
Rome with a body of one hundred horse, among 
whom were fifteen gentlemen of distinction under 
the title of bannerets. At the same time he brought 
with him his son, who had never been in arms 
before. He sent also five hundred loads of corn for 
the subsistence of the troops, all w r hich seemed to be 
marks of sincere affection. Whether the tribune 
was right or wrong in imagining this obedience 
forced, he cut a stroke of policy which the conspi¬ 
rators represented as the most barbarous treachery. 
He received the prefect de Vic with great demon¬ 
stration of joy and acknowledgment; after he had 
given him an invitation to dinner, he caused him 
immediately to be seized with his son and the gentle¬ 
men of his retinue, and distributed their arms and 
horses among the Roman soldiers. They were shut 
up in the prisons of the capitol, where the governor 
fell sick through grief, which made the tribune set 
him at liberty a few days afterwards, when he judged 
he had nothing further to fear from him ; he kept, 
however, his son for an hostage. To put a gloss 
upon this action before the eyes of the people, 
Rienzi gave out that the governor, keeping a corre- 


OF GABRINI. 


137 


spondence with the conspirators, came with no other 
view than to betray the Romans, by falling upon 
their army in flank, while they attacked them in 
front. 

In the meanwhile the army of the nobility, who 
that night had in reality encamped near the place 
called the Monument, began their march, and ad¬ 
vanced as far as the monastery of St. Laurence, 
which they unmercifully plundered, because the tri¬ 
bune’s laurel crown had been blessed in that house. 
They held a council. The old Colonna, John, his 
son, Peter Agapit, and Sciarra, both of the house of 
Colonna, Jordan de Marino, and several other of the 
first quality, debated among themselves in what man¬ 
ner to act when they should enter the city ; whether 
they should begin with bringing the people over to 
their party, or storm at once the capitol. They were 
not insensible how greatly the people were irritated 
against them upon account of the losses they had 
sustained by their depredations. Again, it was dif¬ 
ficult to surprise and take the capitol without the 
concurrence and assistance of the people. In short, 
the cold, the bad weather, and the rains, made several 
of them wish to put off the attack till another oppor¬ 
tunity. Peter Agapit appeared the most irresolute. 
The ecclesiastic profession he had long been of had 
not inspired him with a fund of valour. He quitted 
that calling for a wife after he had possessed the first 


138 


THE CONSPIRACY 


dignity in the chapter of Marseilles; and the change 
of his condition produced no great change in his 
constitution. He was alarmed at a dream the night 
before, wherein he said he saw his wife in .widow's 
weeds. This dream so exceedingly affected him, that 
he declared he would not expose himself that day, 
which was the 20th of November, 1347. Stephen 
Colonna, the head of the party, had actually an ague 
upon him. To put the finishing stroke upon their 
disconcerted measures, they heard the capitol bell 
ring, which made them conclude they were disco¬ 
vered, and that the enemy w’ere upon their guard. 
The old Colonna, however, full of courage, and 
unwilling to let slip an opportunity so precious, told 
the lords that they had advanced too far to go back; 
that he would himself go and reconnoitre ; and that 
if he found any disposition for their reception, they 
must, without any hesitation, enter the city, and 
force the people to follow, without giving them time 
for reflection. Sick as he w r as, he advanced towards 
the city, attended only by two servants. When he 
arrived at the gate he thought most convenient, he 
called to the guard, and desired him to open it, 
assuring him that he was a citizen of Rome, return¬ 
ing to his palace in order to support the good esta¬ 
blishment, and no enemy, and that he carried the 
colours of the church and of the people. “ Retire 
immediately,” replied the sentinel; “ know you not 


OF GABRINI. 


139 


the hatred of the people against you for disturbing 
the good establishment? Know you not the meaning 
of the capitol bell ? We are in a condition to receive 
your anjiy ; see the keys, which I throw to you; enter, 
however, if you durst.” He threw the keys, indeed, 
but into a morass, from whence they could not be 
recovered. 

Colonna, no longer doubting of their being be¬ 
trayed, and the tribune standing upon his guard, 
returned highly dissatisfied to his army. He judged 
it impossible to attempt any enterprise that day, and 
that he must therefore content himself with making 
an honourable retreat. Upon this account it was 
necessary to divide the forces into three bodies, 
which should file off along the walls with sound of 
trumpet, and after having passed in good order before 
the gate through which they intended to enter, 
turned to the right, and retired without drawing 
their swords. 


140 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK VIII. 

Already the first and second bodies, horse and 
foot, had filed off without any molestation, under the 
command of Petruccio Frangipani. The third was 
composed of the best horse, and the flower of the 
nobility. The young Colonna, who was among 
them, had marched first, with seven or eight young 
noblemen, and left the body a small distance behind 
him. Day began to break, when the Romans, roused 
by the noise of trumpets, endeavoured to open the 
gate, that they might skirmish with the enemy’s rear 
guard. The key being lost, they broke open the 
lock, but, either through negligence or precipitation, 
opened one door only, the other remaining close 
shut. John Colonna, finding them in this condition 
when he approached, and hearing a bustle among the 
people, as if under alarm, imagined that the door had 
been forced by those he had sent for intelligence. 
Upon which, transported with an inconsiderate 
ardour, he couched his lance, and, clapping spurs to 


OF GABRINI. 


141 


his horse, rode full speed into the city without any 
attendant. 

If we may judge of an event which produced at 
once an irruption so sudden, he had certainly made 
himself master of Rome if he had had only one hun¬ 
dred horse with him; for, as soon as he appeared, 
the city cavalry, the first he fell upon, were so ter¬ 
ribly alarmed, that they separated, and flew in as 
much confusion as if the enemy’s whole army had 
been at their heels. Nor were the infantry and the 
people less affrighted, to behold the disorder of the 
troops he was driving before him. But at length 
the Romans recovered themselves, and, perceiving 
only one man instead of a whole army, which they 
imagined followed him, turned about and faced him. 
Colonna, who depended upon his friends both within 
and without, was greatly surprised to find himself 
encompassed on every side. He would gladly have 
reached the gate again, but he was carried by his 
horse upon the ruins of a house, which he found a 
little distance on the left from the gate within the 
city. The horse, who pursued him, overtook him ; 
they dismounted and disarmed him, and, without 
any regard to his birth, his youth, and the affecting 
manner of his begging mercy, made three thrusts at 
him, which put an end to the life of this gallant 
young nobleman. He was scarce twenty years of 
age, and had already given proofs of valour which 


142 


THE CONSPIRACY 


seemed to foretell the most heroic actions and a hap¬ 
pier fate. The moment he expired, the sky, which had 
been vastly clouded, cleared up, and the sun again 
appeared upon the city, after an absence of many 
days : an incident that Rienzi was sure to turn to 
advantage, by attracting the admiration of a credu¬ 
lous and superstitious people. 

In the mean time the old Colonna, who headed 
the rear guard, arrived at the city gate, where he 
saw a concourse of people. As if he had a surmise 
of his misfortune, he cried out, “ Where is my son ? 
what is become of my son?” “ We know not,” 
answered they, “ where he is, what he has done, nor 
what is become of him.” This answer added to his 
alarms ; he rode up directly under the gate, from 
whence he saw his. son stretched on the ground 
amidst the assassins. At this dismal sight fear 
seized upon him, he turned his horse, and left the 
city. But the tenderness of a father soon recalled 
his spirits; he returned to redeem his son at any 
rate, imagining he should get there time enough, 
He rode but a few paces back again before he beheld 
his son was slain. Overwhelmed with grief, he was 
considering how to save himself, when unfortunately 
a large engine belonging to the gate fell upon his 
shoulders and his horse’s back. In an instant the 
soldiers of the city ran to surround him. His horse : 
pricked with a lance, started and kicked with such 


OF GABRINI. 


143 


violence, that he threw his lord, already bruised by 
the blow he had just received from the engine. 
Those mad wretches instantly threw themselves upon 
the venerable old nobleman, and ran him through 
with their lances with the utmost barbarity. The 
people, animated at this time by the death of the 
two most considerable of the contrary party, went 
out in crowds, without any regard to order, to fall 
upon the troops who were filing off. Peter Agapit 
was their first victim; he had unfortunatelv fallen 
from his horse, and was endeavouring to save himself 
in the fields, but the rains had made the ground too 
slippery, and the weight of his arms, to which he 
was not inured, occasioned him soon to be found 
among the vines, wherein he strove to conceal him¬ 
self. The tears with which he begged his life, 
unworthy a man of his birth, had no effect. They 
disarmed him, and, after they had taken all his 
money, cruelly massacred him. Pandolph, lord of 
Belvidere, and ten other noblemen of the first rank, 
shared the same fate. The rest of the party were 
struck with terror; every one strove to facilitate his . 
own escape, throwing down his arms for the greater 
expedition. Jordan de Marino fled in such con¬ 
sternation, that he never stopped till he reached his 
castle Marino. In a word, the defeat was so general, 
and indeed singular, that not one of the revolters 
durst defend himself, and the people lost not one 


144 


THE CONSPIRACY 


man, after they had slain all those who could not 
avoid their first fury. 

The tribune, amidst his troops, knew so little of 
what had passed, that seeing at a distance one of his 
standards fall, he looked upon all as lost, and casting 
up his eyes to heaven, full of despair, cried out, 
“ Oh God! will you then forsake me ? ” But no 
sooner was he informed of the entire defeat of his 
enemies, than his dread and cowardice even turned 
to boldness and arrogance. He made his trumpets 
proclaim aloud his victory. Taking in hand the 
tribune sceptre, and putting on his head the rich 
silver crown with another of olive, he entered Rome 
triumphant. He went directly to the church of St. 
Mary d’Ara Celi, followed by the people, to return 
thanks to heaven for a victory obtained, as he per¬ 
suaded them, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost, 
according to his prediction. Upon this occasion he 
made great show of piety, sufficient to impose upon 
a giddy train, who had long since believed him a 
prophet. The crown of olive with his sceptre he 
laid at the feet of the image of the blessed Virgin; 
that of silver he deposited in the Cordeliers’ church, 
and never more made use of either of those orna¬ 
ments. Afterwards he went to the place where 
he usually harangued the people; he congratulated 
them upon the success of their arms, and told them 
that his design was to sheath for ever his sword : 


OF GABRINI. 


145 


Yet drawing- it at the very moment he said so, he 
cut off a lappet of his gown, as if he would have it 
thought he would no more embrue it in blood ; and 
said in allusion to the deaths of the Colonnas: “ I 
have this day cut off an ear from that head which 
neither pope nor emperor had ever power to effect.” 

At night the relations and friends of the slain 
came to bury their bodies. It was a dismal sight to 
behold the unfortunate noblemen fallen victims to an 
enraged people. .Their faces were disfigured in such 
a manner, that it was difficult to know them. The 
whole number of the slain was reckoned about three 
hundred, among whom were six of the house of 
Colonna, and many others of the greatest distinction 
of Rome and the provinces adjacent. The corpse of 
the old Colonna was so inhumanly mangled, and his 
face so much wounded, that it was some hours before 
he was known. They carried his body and those of 
the Colonnas to the nunnery church of St. Mary, 
where the family had a vault. Several ladies, their 
relations, came to attend their obsequies ; but the 
tribune, regardless of all their tears and entreaties, 
ordered his guards to drive them out of the church, 
declaring that they were rebels and traitors, and 
unworthy of the honours of burial; and that he 
would, if the ladies made the least disturbance, send 
them instantly to the place wherein they throw the 
common malefactors. He ordered them afterwards 


L 


146 


THE CONSPIRACY 


to be privately carried to the church of St. Silvester, 
where the monks buried them without noise or 
ceremony. 

If the tribune had pushed his conquest, and 
attacked Fort Marino, without giving- his enemies time 
to recover themselves, he had certainly, in the con¬ 
sternation they were then in, put it out of their power 
to have afterwards given him any uneasiness. But he 
was neither warlike nor brave; he imagined he had 
obtained advantage enough in escaping the danger, 
and that he was infinitely more safe amidst the people 
under his authority, than at the head of an army 
against a weaker enemy who had opposed him. 
Instead of securing himself by so powerful a vic¬ 
tory, he thought of nothing but triumphal pro¬ 
cessions at home, and spreading the news of his 
conquest abroad, particularly at Florence, Sienna, 
and Perusa, the cities whose alliance he had most at 
heart. / One of the letters he wrote on this subject 
was addressed to Reynold Ursini, the pope’s notary 
and archdeacon of Liege, of which the annexed is an 
extract. 

“ This is the day which the Lord hath made, we 
will rejoice and be glad therein. It is, indeed, a day 
of joy to the people, and to all the just; it is a day 
of affliction, of grief, of despair to the tyrants against 
whom we have directed all our thunder in defence 
of the liberties of Rome, You have, doubtless, heard 


i 


OF GABRINI. 


147 


the fame of what passed at Rome after the arrival of 
the legate; in what manner peace was established, 
justice revered, liberty triumphed, the roads secured, 
and tyranny abased. In what manner the pacific 
state granted us at first by the Almighty, was dis¬ 
turbed by Reynold and Jordan Ursini, of infamous 
memory, formerly knights, but since traitors to the 
body of Jesus Christ, to us the tribune, and the 
Romans. In what manner Stephen and John Co- 
lonna, equally perjured, became the promoters and 
abettors of treason, the consequences of which were 
plunders and burning of castles, monasteries, hospi¬ 
tals, and consecrated places, without the least cause 
given on our side, unless by partaking with them of 
the body of Jesus Christ for our mutual security, 
the only pledge we could obtain from them. In 

m 

what manner, after having given or taken reciprocal 
oaths, we conferred upon them the greatest places of 
honour and trust ; taking them into council, and 
creating in particular, John, general of our army, 
beside other promises which should as effectually 
have been fulfilled as they were sincerely made. 

“ The perjured wretches in the meanwhile forgot 
our favour, and not content with raising disturbances 
without, by degrees ventured to attack us within, 
without considering that God had restored Rome to 
her pristine glory. They conspired with the prefect 
John de Vic, who, under pretence of bringing us 

l 2 


148 


THE CONSPIRACY 


succours, was come to betray the Romans. But the 
plot was happily discovered, and the conspirators 
delivered into our hands ; if there was no necessity 
of staining" them with their blood, it behoved us to 
curb the insolence of the rebels, who would have 
entered the city by force, aud tyrannised over the 
lovers of peace, under the pretence of its being 1 better 
for them to be exposed to death itself, rather than 
submit to the exercise of our office longer than six 
months. It is true, six months were elapsed since 
Whitsunday, which was the day of our elevation, as 
this is of our victory. The defeat and deaths of 
these traitors will in the end demonstrate that their 
conduct and lives were incompatible with our go¬ 
vernment. Not content with plundering and setting- 
fire to the church and convent of St. Mary de Fer¬ 
rara, on turning towards the city they fell upon the 
convent of St. Laurence, where the remains of that 
Saint are deposited with those of St. Stephen. The 
Almighty, however, took compassion upon our 
innocence and the people, and upon the purity of 
our intentions in fighting for liberty and justice ; he 
taught our hands to fight, and enabled us to subdue 
the proud. It is to the assistance of those saints and 
martyrs, Stephen and Laurence, we owe our victory. 
In their church our laurel crown was consecrated. 
Stephen Colonna, John his son, and that apostate, 
Peter Agapit, once provost of Marseilles, and since 


OF GABRINI. 


149 


one of the chiefs of the conspiracy, could not with¬ 
stand our victorious arms. It was indeed no more 
than just that those who had partaken of our cle¬ 
mency, should share the fate they had deserved. 
They were other Holoferneses cut off by another 
Judith. It is remarkable, that within the space of 
eight days all our enemies were either slain, taken 
prisoners, or shamefully put to flight. 

“ This great success must, of consequence, add to 
the progress of the good establishment, as well as to 
our power, since the Romans appear now more than 
ever enamoured with liberty. We must not forget 
to tell you, that two days before this event, there 
appeared to us a vision, which afforded us much con¬ 
solation ; we saw pope Boniface, of blessed memory, 
who animated us by saying that in a very short time 
we should triumph over the tyrants. This we re¬ 
ported in full senate to the Romans ; afterwards we 
went to the altar of Boniface in the great church of 
St. Peter, where we devoutly made an offering of a 
veil and chalice. In a word, by the grace of God, 
thevision was verified, and victory obtained by the 
assistance of the blessed Martin, son of a tribune. 
As it was on his festival the traitors plundered the 
foreigners coming to Rome for indulgence, the Saint 
took revenge of them by the hands of a tribune three 
days afterwards; that is to say, on the day of St. 
Columbin, who happily gives glory to the dove in 


150 


THE CONSPIRACY 


our standard. Given at our capitol on the day of 
our victory, the 20th of November. ” ij 

But this victory, it seems, which ought to have 
rendered his government more firm and steady, 
proved the most immediate cause of his ruin, by the 
pride and insolence with which it inspired him. The 
next day he performed an exploit which turned out 
of great prejudice to him, and alienated the hearts of 
his best troops. Having ordered all his volunteers, 
whom he was pleased to honour with the name of 
sacred militia, to mount, “ Follow me, ” said he, “ I 
will doubly procure peace for you.” Upon which he 
caused the trumpets to sound, and having on his left 
hand his son Laurence, he marched without disco¬ 
vering his design to the place where the old Colonna 
was killed. There was a lake of muddy water, wherein 
the body of that lord was some time soaked, and which 
was coloured with his blood. Dismounting with his 
son, he took some of the bloody water and sprinkled 
it upon him, saying, “ Son, henceforth shalt thou be 
knight of victory.” He afterwards made every cap¬ 
tain strike him across his reins with the flat side of 
his sword. This done, he returned to the capitol, 
where he disbanded his cavalry in these terms : — 
(i Romans, retire, what I do for you is common with 
me; but then it is no less your duty than mine to 
fight for our country.” This discourse, and the bar¬ 
barous and burlesque ceremony, which the cavalry 



OF GABRINI. 


151 


had been eye-witness of, shocked them to such a 
degree, that they never afterwards would take up 
arms for him. 

Having lost the affection of the major part of his 
best troops, he did all he could to lose that of the 
people. Persuading himself the victory had laid 
the nobility so low as never again to recover them¬ 
selves, he set no bounds to his actions. He carried 
himself with an insupportable arrogance, and aban¬ 
doned himself to all manner of injustice and tyranny; 
he raised new taxes; he extorted riches from those 
he had taken from their houses upon sham plots; he 
seised upon abbeys and monasteries; his dress and 
table were carried to an excess of luxury. The 
young Romans, who used to make their court to 
him, appeared seldom at the capitol. All blamed his 
conduct, and Rome, which the other day esteemed 
him as their deliverer, now looked upon him as a 
tyrant. He convoked not the people so frequently 
to grant audience or to hold council. Pie shut 
himself up in his palace, and his presence was known 
only by the rigorous punishments, which he caused 
his agents to inflict upon the innocent. The Car¬ 
dinal Legate, who had continued at Montefiascone 
omitted no opportunity of raising him enemies, and 
withdrawing the people’s affection. Having cited 
him three times to no purpose, he pronounced 
excommunication against him as a man remarkable 


152 


THE CONSPIRACY 


for heresy. Clement VI. addressed the Romans in 
a brief dated the 3rd of December, exhorting - them 
to shake off all obedience to the tribune. He 
reminded them in the mildest terms of the insolence 
and inconsistency of the election made above six 
months past in favour of Nicholas Rienzi and 
Raymond his holiness’s vicar; he told them, that 
they manifestly infringed upon his prerogative at 
that juncture, who was the natural sovereign of 
Rome. That he had given proofs of his indulgence 
in concealing his displeasure, and ratifying the 
election, in hopes it would tend to the good of the 
people and the support of the rights of the church. 
He continued with expressions full of energy, that 
Rienzi, who was their idol, had deceived him in his 
expectations of him at Rome and Avignon: that he 
had carried his ingratitude and treachery to both 
those cities to the highest pitch. That he began by 
excluding from the government his co-partner the 
bishop of Orvieto, who opposed his usurpation: 
that the said bishop was obliged to depart Rome 
to avoid being a spectator of his enormities, his 
rapine upon the territories of the church, and the 
abominable imposts which he laid upon the people, 
without any dread of the anathema usually pro¬ 
nounced against such tyrants. The holy Father 
then laid before their eyes the heinous crimes of 
Rienzi in removing Constantine’s Urn, and imitating 


OF GABRINI. 


153 


the ceremonies of the pagans at his coronation, and 
other triumphs, wherein he affected to resemble the 
Caesars. Such are the works, such the grand exploits 
(continued he) of Nicholas: such are the advantages, 
such the honours, and such the prerogatives he boasts 
by his labours to have procured for you. He con¬ 
cluded, that he had given the greatest demonstration 
of his paternal patience in regard to Rienzi, whom 
by the most salutary means and advice he had 
endeavoured to reclaim, and that he had sent car¬ 
dinal Bertram to Rome on purpose: but that Rienza 
held all in disdain, and became the more arrogant, 
as he was insensible that the arms of the Lord, which 
overthrew Lucifer, Balthazar, and others, whom 
pride and ambition had blinded, were able to smite 
him, curb his blasphemies, and set bounds to his 
iniquities. His holiness conjured the Romans, 
mingling sometimes menaces with his entreaties, to 
consider seriously on what he had written to them, to 
persevere in their obedience to the church, and con¬ 
sequently to break off all communication with that 
dangerous serpent, who spread his venom over all. 

So many heavy articles drawn up against the 
power of the tribune were surely capable of shaking 
it. But he was so much master of the people, that 
he would doubtless have withstood all these efforts, 
if he had not become the greatest enemy to himself 
by the irregularity of his conduct. Whilst the 


154 


OF GABRINI. 


Romans found themselves exposed within to his 
tyranny, they were without in no less danger from 
the nobles, who had renewed their excursions, and 
were ravaging the country with greater fury than 
ever. Jordan de Marino, who had taken the first 
alarm, and was informed of the people’s discontent, 
imagined he should be able by harassing with hosti¬ 
lities, to destroy the phantom of power which the 
tribune had raised. He gathered together at his 
Fort of Marino the remainder of the army of the 
Colonnas, of which the number of the defeated far 
exceeded that of the slain. The parties he con¬ 
tinually sent out about the country kept all in such 
alarm, that the merchants no longer ventured to 
Rome, which was in a manner blocked up. The 
interruption of commerce occasioned a great scarcity, 
and corn especially bore an excessive price. This 
state of want, compared with the abundance which 
the Romans enjoyed from the elevation of the tri¬ 
bune to this unfortunate war, obliged them to make 
many grievous reflections, and abated their respect 
for Rienzi, more than the pope’s manifesto or the 
anathemas of his legate. As to the last, he con¬ 
tented not himself in fulminating his excommunica¬ 
tions. As soon as he perceived affairs come to the 
crisis he desired, he had an interview with Luke 
Savolli and Sciarra Colonna, in order to harass more 
and more the Romans; in which he so effectually 


OF GABRINI. 


155 


succeeded that all the avenues to Rome were 
entirely shut up. At length, to give the tribune no 
time to extricate himself from his apprehensions, 
they engaged a lord of the kingdom of Naples, a 
man of great bravery and intrepidity, to enter into 
their measures, and form a conspiracy against him. 

This lord, named John Pepin, palatine of Alta- 
mura and count de Morivino, was of a factious and 
turbulent temper, which had plunged him into 
troubles, and which in the end brought him to an 
ignominious death. Robert king of Naples had 
sentenced him to perpetual imprisonment. After 
the death of that prince he was set at liberty by 
king Andrew. The tragical end of this last prince 
having caused a revolution in the kingdom, he was 
afraid of falling into the hands of bloody-minded 
princes, who were possessed of absolute authority, 
and had no regard for him. He departed the realm, 
and flew for refuge to Rome with his family. As 
the tribune had summoned him to his tribunal, and 
condemned him to banishment for non-appearance, 
he looked upon himself as personally interested to 
take vengeance, and the countenance of the legate 
and the nobles furnished him with the means. He 
embraced this opportunity with so much the more 
advantage for himself, as well as for those engaged 
with him, as he was the only man, who by a con¬ 
formity of character with Rienzi, was able to under- 


156 


THE CONSPIRACY 


take his overthrow and succeed therein. He desired 
but one hundred and fifty men to execute his design, 
in imitation of Rienzi, who had no more at the time 
he was proclaimed governor. The legate granted 
them. This was a desperate attempt in cardinal 
Bertram, as he had little room to expect success 
against a man, who had hitherto always succeeded; 
whose name alone had terrified the most regular 
troops, and given uneasiness to the great provinces 
he purposed to invade. But he was willing to set 
temerity against temerity, and try if fortune could 
not destroy by the same measures she had raised. 
Whether Pepin was already in Rome (as Fortiocca 
insinuates) or whether he found means to enter the 
city (according to Villani) in the night on the 14th 
or 15th of December, is uncertain ; he took pos¬ 
session, however, of the fish-market, where he 
intrenched without molestation, and erected batteries 
to secure himself from any attack on that side. He 
then caused the alarm bell of the next church to be 
rung all that night and the day following. 

The tribune, more terrified at this conspiracy than 
he had reason to be, gave the conspirators time to 
strengthen and increase themselves by the repeated 
exclamations of, “Let the Colonnas live, and let 
the tribune die.” He determined at length to send 
a company of horse under the command of a captain, 
whom he knew entirely devoted to him. This 


OF GABRINI. 


157 


general, named Scarpetta, no sooner advanced to the 
batteries than he was slain by a lance, which dis¬ 
concerted the whole troop. Rienzi ordered the 
capitol bell to be rang*, and perceiving that the 
people did not assemble according to order, went out 
dejected, not knowing what course to steer. Fear 
had so dismayed him, he could scarcely speak. Far 
from considering of giving commands to his forces, 
whom the least show of courage might have rendered 
victorious, he gave way to such a lamentable abjec¬ 
tion of mind, that he imagined a general insurrection 
in the city ; although he beheld the people quiet, 
who contented themselves with a neutrality, neither 
acting against or standing up in defence of him. 
Believing himself lost beyond redemption, he turned 
towards the people, who began to assemble under 
the tribunal, and told them, interrupting his* dis¬ 
course with tears and sighs, that, “ his government 
had been attended with prosperity and advantage to 
the public ; that he had therefore nothing to reproach 
himself with upon that account; but that the jealousy 
and malice of those, to whom the good establishment 
was not acceptable, compelled him to resign his 
trust. I retire, therefore, (added he) and quit the 
reins of government, seven months after I have 
received them from vour hands.” When he had 
finished, he mounted on horseback, and followed by 
some he could confide in, strove to make a trium- 


158 


THE CONSPIRACY 


pliant retreat. He marched with trumpets sounding 
and colours displayed to the castle of St. Angelo, 
where he fortified himself some time, till he could 
find an opportunity to make an escape. An affection 
for Rienzi was still so grounded in the minds of the 
people, that notwithstanding all their cause for 
discontent, they could not behold him discharging 
his trust and retiring without compassion. Many 
who had testified their dislike and coldness, at this 
juncture could not refrain from tears at his mis¬ 
fortunes. 

The rumour of his retreat soon spread itself over 
the whole city. Count d’Altamura no sooner heard 
of it, than he came out of his trenches, and went 
directly to the capitol, which he found abandoned. 
The attendants and domestics of the tribune were all 
gone; his wfife retired in the habit of a nun. They 
plundered the superb furniture of his palace, and 
seized upon the immense riches he had amassed. 
They found a surprising quantity of letters in his 
cabinet, some of his own writing, and others which 
he had received from foreign princes. They hanged 
him in effigy over against the walls of his palace’ 
and treated him in the very same manner he had 
Jordan de Marino, setting his head to the ground, 
and his heels upward. Cecco Mancini was distin¬ 
guished by the same marks of infamy. He was 
chief confidant, secretary, and nephew of the tribune, 


OF GABRINI. 


159 


and was honoured with the title of count ; upon the 
first news of his uncle’s fall he abandoned the fortress 
of Civita-Vecchia, of which he was governor. 

Rienzi had so terrified the grandees who were 
retired to their castles, that they could scarcely 
recover themselves on the information of his retreat, 
and were no less than three days before they returned 
to Rome. They well knew the great ascendancy he 
had over the people, who, notwithstanding his 
tyranny, loved him, and they were apprehensive of 
his being re-established in his authority. But the 
legate, who was waiting for the success of count 
d’Altamura at Montifiascone, hastened to Rome, and 
having first issued out a fresh process against him, 
declared him divested of his dignity, suspected of 
heresy, and excommunicated. It is remarkable he 
was all this while in the castle of St. Angelo, wliere 
he remained above a month without molestation, 
which may be attributed either to an apprehension 
of the people rising to his assistance, or to a desire 
of giving him an opportunity to make his escape. 

The new legislators began with restoring the 
ancient form of government by the creation of sena¬ 
tors. They created three, of whom the legate was 
chief; and of the other two, one was of the house of 
Colonna, and the other of that of Ursini. This set¬ 
tlement was a proof of the ability of the legate, who 
after the confusions in Rome during the last revolu- 


160 


THE CONSPIRACY 


tion and some time before, thought he could by no 
means better secure the public tranquillity than by 
dividing the honour of government between the 
Colonnas and Ursinis, sitting himself as president 
to prevent dissensions, and maintain a good intelli¬ 
gence between the pope and them. 

Rienzi in his retreat began to raise his spirits, and 
despaired not of his restoration. He depended upon 
the protection and succours of his ally, the king of 
Hungary. That prince at the head of a numerous 
army was upon the point of invading the kingdom 
of Naples ; but as Rienzi might chance to fall into 
the hands of queen Jane, whom he had ordered to be 
seized if she appeared in his territories, he judged it 
too hazardous to go in quest of that monarch. Hap¬ 
pily for him the revolution he waited for soon took 
place. Most of the grandees of the kingdom declared 
themselves for Lewis, and went to pay him homage. 
The cities and towns sent their deputies to acknow¬ 
ledge him. Queen Jane, who in a moment found 
herself forsaken by all her subjects, had no other 
resource left but to fly to Provence with three gal¬ 
leys, which she always kept in readiness for any event 
in the port of Naples. She embarked in the night 
on the 15th of January ; Lewis, prince of Taranto, 
her consort, followed two days after, accompanied by 
Nicolas Acciaivoli, the only lord who preserved his 
loyalty. In this manner, Lewis, king of Hungary, 


OF GABRIN1. 


161 


made himself master of the kingdom of Naples with¬ 
out losing a drop of blood on either side. 

This interesting news for Rienzi soon reached 
Rome, whence he resolved secretly to withdraw 
himself. Before his departure he left a token of his 
hopes of being restored to his dignity. After he had 
retired to the castle St. Angelo, he caused to be 
painted upon the wall of St. Mary Magdalen’s church 
in the castle, an angel with the arms of Rome, hold¬ 
ing in her hand a cross with a dove, and trampling 
under foot an adder, a basilisk, a lion, and a dragon; 
intimating by this symbol, that he should one day 
be restored to his dignity, that at that time he should 
humble the grandees who had routed him, and crush 
them in pieces, according to the words of the ninety- 
first Psalm, ver. 13. “ Thou shalt go upon the lion 
and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou 
tread under thy feet.” The populace in derision 
covered this enigmatical painting with dirt. Rienzi 
the night before his departure had the curiosity to 
view this hieroglyphic, which he esteemed a pledge 
of his return. He came to the place in the habit of 
a monk, and grieved to see the image disfigured in 
so outrageous a manner, ordered his friends to keep 
a lamp burning before it for the space of one year. 
That night he departed Rome, and set out for Naples, 
where he arrived at the latter end of January. 


M 


162 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK IX. 

The disgrace of Rienzi sensibly affected the king: 
of Hungary, as he looked upon him as a man firmly 
attached to his interests and able to second the 
enterprise he had meditated upon Sicily, and for 
which the tribune had promised him succours. He 
received him with great marks of distinction and 
affection, and grafted him an asylum at his court. It 
is said they made at this time a secret treaty, which 
gave the pope much uneasiness. Among the orders 
which his holiness 9ent to cardinal Bertram d’Eux, 
his legate at Rome, he earnestly and expressly 
charged him to remonstrate to king Lewis, “ that 
if he was willing to show himself a true son of the 
church, he must not in any manner succour, relieve 
or protect that perverse man,” as he called Nicholas 
Rienzi, “ who was excommunicated and strongly 
suspected of heresy; nor any of his partisans and 
adherents : that it was his duty to cause him to be 
seized upon and sent under a strong guard, either to 


OF GABRINI. 


163 


the legate or to Avignon, that he might receive a 
punishment due to his crimes. The pope concluded 
with conjuring Lewis to reflect what a blemish it 
would cast upon his reputation to favour and counte¬ 
nance a man/’ as it is reported, “ suspected of heresy, 
and how displeasing it must be to the Almighty God, 
to enter into his sentiments and interests.” This 
letter was dated May 7, 1348. 

Whether the earnest solicitations of Clement VI. 
to disengage him from Rienzi, made an impression 
upon the mind of king Lewis, who at that juncture 
found himself unable to resist the holy see, or 
whether he judged he had no further concern with 
a man for whose restoration he must at the very 
beginning be obliged to hire forces, it is certain that 
that monarch left abruptly the kingdom of Naples. 

The sudden departure of the king of Hungary 
amazed equally the whole world. Without revealing 
his design either to the grandees, or to the officers 
of his army, after he had secured all the castles and 
strong places, where he had put in good garrisons, he 
embarked on board a galley for Hungary, after an 
absence of about three months from it. Various 
were the opinions of this mysterious departure: but 
in the dreadful sickness, which began to depopulate 
Italy, and especially the kingdom of Naples, he could 
not remain without danger of losing his life ; and as 
he found himself under a necessity of withdrawing, 

m 2 


164 


THE CONSPIRACY 


lie judged it most proper to be done secretly and 
suddenly. 

The contagious distemper, which forced the King 
of Hungary to quit Naples, was reported by histo¬ 
rians to exceed the plague of Egypt in the time of 
Pharaoh, and that which caused so great desolation 
in Italy during the pontificate of St. Gregory. Yet 
Providence, who reserved Rienzi for a scourge to 
chastise the Romans, permitted him to escape the 
contagion; the interruption of trade and commerce 
helped him to conceal and shelter himself from the 
strict search the pope made after him. Cleared from 
these dangers, he pursued his former design of re¬ 
establishing himself at Rome at all events, and for 
that end contrived a scheme which alarmed Clement 
VI. 

Among the number of troops which the King of 
Hungary sent into Naples, he had a body of Ger¬ 
mans, consisting of twelve hundred horse, com¬ 
manded .by a lord of that empire called Werner. 
This cavalry was one of the principal corps of the 
King of Hungary. After they had done wonders in 
Sicily, which gave the pope cause to complain, the 
king made use of them upon divers occasions. But 
Werner by reason of his haughtiness was discon¬ 
tented ; he turned against him, and quitting his ser¬ 
vice, determined to make a campaign in Rome. This 
man Rienzi fixed upon as a proper instrument to 


OF GABRINI. 


165 


restore him. He made proposals to him, which per¬ 
plexed the court of Avignon to such a degree, that 
the pope gave the most pressing orders, first to car¬ 
dinal Bertram to prevent the consequences of so 
dangerous a confederacy, by drawing from Rienzi’s 
interest Perusa, Florence, and Sienna; afterwards to 
Hannibal Ceccano, successor to Bertram in the 
legateship, to put a stop to the springs which that 
active spirit had set in motion in Italy and Rome to 
facilitate his return. 

The apprehensions of the pope were so much the 
better founded, as he was not insensible of the dis¬ 
positions of the people towards their old tribune. 
He well knew that the want of steadiness in the new 
administration had caused disturbances which made 
them lament the loss of him; that instead of that 
security which he had established upon the public 
roads, the travellers were exposed to continual rob¬ 
beries: and that they (the people), if Rienzi had 
courage equal to his sedition, and was furnished with 
succours, would again receive him at Rome as their 
deliverer. In regard to these dispositions, and the 
just complaints of the dangers on the roads, the holy 
father charged his first legate to use all possible 
means to put a stop to those robberies, which would 
lessen the affection of the people for their tribune. 
His second legate he expressly commanded to renew 
all the proceedings of his predecessor against Rienzi. 


166 


THE CONSPIRACY. 


In the brief dated November 21, 1348, he set forth 
the negotiations and secret practices of Rienzi, who 
by his flight to those who had power to support him, 
rendered himself still more formidable. “ This 
wretch,” said his holiness, “ persists in his obstinacy, 
and meditates new plots, infinitely more dangerous 
than his former, in order to overthrow, if he had the 
power, both church and city. He yet retains by 
clandestine means a number of partisans; he amuses 
them by artifices, and makes promises to them which 
he can never accomplish. He has already engaged 
some of the highest rank (meaning the king of Hun¬ 
gary and Werner) to forsake the church and public 
welfare, and follow him in his attempts upon the 
holy see.” To obstruct their designs the legate pub¬ 
lished fresh anathemas against Rienzi, and declared 
all princes, who favoured, granted asylum, or knew 
the place of his retreat, excommunicated. 

These precautions of the court of Avignon and 
the legates against a fugitive without arms or aid, 
demonstrate that he had still at Rome and the coun¬ 
tries allied a great party. Nevertheless, his formi¬ 
dable party, his league with Werner, and the protec¬ 
tion of the king of Hungary, were all of no effect. 
He found himself obliged to lay concealed in the 
hermitage of Mont-Mayelle? disguised in the habit 
of a penitent, where he remained with the hermits 
the whole succeeding year, 1349, waiting for the 


OF GABRINI. 


167 


opportunity of the grand jubilee, which was ap¬ 
proaching, and which would afford him opportunity 
to creep incognito again into Rome. 

This indulgence was fixed by Clement VI. for the 
year 1350. It was so particularly limited to the city 
of Rome, that Hugh, king of Cyprus, who had sent 
an ambassador on purpose to beg leave to partake of 
it without leaving his dominions, was denied his 
request, as well as several other sovereign princes. 
The concourse from all parts of Europe was so pro¬ 
digious, that between Christmas day (the day of its 
opening) and the Easter following, there were reck¬ 
oned little less than 1,200,000 foreigners at Rome. 
The places of those who returned home were sup¬ 
plied by new comers. Between Ascension and Whit¬ 
sunday were counted about 800,000 more; and not¬ 
withstanding the heat of the summer considerably 
lessened the number, there was scarce a day during 
the season but 200,000 foreigners were seen at 
Rome. 

By the favour of such a multitude Rienzi ven¬ 
tured to enter once more without being known. He 
huddled himself amidst the crowd, and found the 
situation of affairs favourable to his designs, by reason 
of the general discontent of the people in regard to 
the legate. It was ordained in the bull that to gain 
indulgence the churches specified therein should be 
visited for a certain number of days; the Romans 


168 


THE CONSPIRACY 


thirty, the Italians fifteen, and ten all other foreign¬ 
ers. The pope granted full powers to the legate, 
cardinal de Ceccano, and to his vicar resident at 
Rome, to dispense with this limitation upon account 
of the prodigious concourse from all parts, according 
as they should judge proper. In spite of their orders 
and precautions they met with great difficulties, occa¬ 
sioned by the merchants without, who brought not 
the corn, wine, and other provisions, as they should 
have done, setting a price according to their own 
wills upon the commodities they vended to foreigners. 
Cardinal Ceccano thought to remedy this evil by a 
number of dispensations which produced great dis¬ 
content. 

The legate, in the stables of his palace, had a 
camel, which attracted the curiosity of the populace. 
One day, some of the meaner sort of people teasing 
this beast, the groom picked a quarrel with them. 
Words instantly came to blows. The domestics of 
the legate drove out the mob, but their number soon 
increasing, and holding together, they returned to 
the palace, broke down the gates, and threw stones 
from every corner of the windpws, crying out, “ A 
heretic, a heretic I ” They were furnished in a short 
time with all sorts of arms, so that the palace was in 
a manner besieged. Ceccano showed himself in a 
balcony, but his presence had no effect, until John 
de Lucca came with a troop of horse, and suppressed 


OF GABRINI. 


169 


the rioters. As trifling* as this tumult appeared, 
Rienzi was suspected to be the author of it, or at 
least, a great abettor. It is said by some, he formed 
a design of assassinating the legate in the streets of 
of Rome, not doubting but the confusion and dis¬ 
order which an attempt of that nature would neces¬ 
sarily produce, would furnish him with the means of 
putting himself at the head of the people, who were 
yet attached to him, and by forcing the capitol, rein¬ 
state himself in the government. 

A few days after the attack of the legate’s palace, 
that cardinal, to gain indulgence on his own part, 
resolved to visit the churches. He generally marched 
with a grand equipage, and in pomp, agreeable to 
his rank. One day, after saying mass pontifically 
in St. Peter’s church, he mounted on horseback, 
accompanied by a numerous retinue, and went to 
St. Paul’s, the trumpets sounding all the time he 
marched. After saying his prayers in that church, 
he proceeded to that of the Holy Ghost; but just as 
he was between the two churches in the middle of 
the street, two arrows were shot at him from a win¬ 
dow, one of which passed without touching him, and 
the other pitched upon his hat without wounding 
his head. It is difficult to determine which had the 
greater predominancy over the prelate, his fear or 
his indignation. He rode up in an instant to the 
house from whence the arrows were shot, but no 


170 


THE CONSPIRACY 


soul could be found in it. The villains escaped 
through a back door, and mixed themselves amongst 
the ctowd, leaving their bow behind them, which 
was the only thing that could be discovered, notwith¬ 
standing the most strict searches which w r ere made 
during the remainder of that year. 

The cardinal, apprehensive of other assassins, 
thought tit to leave otf his visitations, and return to 
his palace. A priest was taken up upon suspicion, 
and examined, but no proof could be produced against 
him. The house, whence the arrows were shot, 
w r as demolished for want of the assassins. After 
the most diligent inquiries to no purpose Rienzi w'as 
suspected ; suspicion seemed to amount to evidence J 
such was the force of prejudice, the legate, no longer 
doubting him to be the author of this base attempt, 
poured out his indignation against him. Afte r 
writing, and sending the head of the arrow to the 
pope, he excommunicated Rienzi again, and all his 
accomplices. He stiled him an infamous and odious 
heretic; he disannulled all the ordinances which 
the tribune had made during his government, and 
declared him deprived, and incapable of office and 
dignity. 

Rienzi, guilty or innocent, found there was no 
longer any safety for him at Rome. Although he 
had the satisfaction of seeing the people, whom he 
knew were better affected to him than ever, yet the 


OF GABRINI. 


171 


vigilance of the legate and the administration, the 
great concourse of foreigners, more inclinable to 
good order and tranquillity j than to sedition and 
conspiracies, and the express and pathetic remon¬ 
strances of the pope against him, rendered him des¬ 
titute of the least hopes of success. He took the 
opportunity of saving himself in one of the foreign 
caravans, which was returning home. 

Disappointed, and not knowing where to find 
new resources to carry on his designs, he took a 
most bold resolution, conformable to that rashness 
which had so often assisted him in his former ex¬ 
ploits. He determined to go to Prague, to Charles 
king of the Romans, whom the year before he had 
summoned to his tribunal, persuaded that that prince, 
touched with the openness with which he would 

m 

throw himself into his arms, would grant him pro¬ 
tection, and encourage his return. He took the 
route of Bohemia, disguised in the habit of a Cor¬ 
delier, and thereby freed the legate and administra¬ 
tion from the most dangerous enemy they had at 
Rome ; yet he freed them not from their apprehen¬ 
sions. The legate well knew of his return to Rome, 
but he had no certainty of his departure. He dreaded 
continually some new enterprises: the care he took 
of his person manifested his alarms. When he 
appeared in public, he constantly wore an iron 
skullcap under his hat, and a coat of mail under his 


172 


THE CONSPIRACY 


cassock. He feared the people almost as much as 
Rienzi; in his heart he retained a warm resentment 
against the Romans, who in return entertained no 
favourable dispositions towards him, and upon every 
oocasion frankly spoke their sentiments. “ They 
had,” says Fortiocca, “ four great objections against 
him ; he was no citizen of Rome ; he was squint- 
eyed ; he loved pomp and pageantry; and was, 
what,” adds that author, “ is better omitted than 
related.” To remove him from the disagreeable 
situation he found himself in at Rome, the pope, 
upon the refusal of cardinal Guy de Boulogne, who 
begged to be excused, gave him the legateship of 
Naples, to treat with the king of Hungary, whose 
return to that kingdom had rekindled the war with 
greater fury than ever. Hannibal de Ceccano left 
Rome accordingly; but scarcely had he passed the 
Seignory of Ceccano, Monte Cassino, and St. Ger¬ 
main, but he alighted at a castle, where they brought 
him a repast, in which was wine, by the conse¬ 
quences suspected to be poisoned on purpose to 
destroy the prelate; be it as it may, he actually died 
the next day, July 17 th, 1350, in a town called St. 
George. Fortiocca attributes his death to an indi¬ 
gestion, occasioned by the quantity of wine he drank, 
with milk after it, and eating cucumbers to excess. 
This seems the less probable, as every one of his 
retinue, among whom was a nephew, who drank off 


OF GABRINI. 


173 


this wine, died, some on the road, some at Rome, 
and others at Viterbo. His baggage was plundered 
by the heads of the country, who were up in arms, 
and his body, after embalming, was carried in a 
coffin to Rome, in the habit of St. Francis, and 
interred at St. Peter’s, in the family vault, but with¬ 
out any funeral pomp or solemnity. 

About the same time Rienzi arrived at Prague, 
where the king of the Romans then was. He pre¬ 
sented himself to that monarch with great confidence, 
and throwing himself at his feet, with his accustomed 
eloquence he told him, “ That he was Nicholas Ri¬ 
enzi, whom God had vouchsafed to be the deliverer 
of Rome, and governor thereof, according to the 
laws of justice ; that he had seen under his obedience 
Tuscany, the Roman provinces and sea-ports ; that 
he had humbled the grandees, and reformed an infi¬ 
nity of disorders; that every wretch the earth con¬ 
tained knew the success of the iron rod, which the 
Lord had armed him with for the cause of justice; 
but that the same God who elevated and supported 
him during the rigour of his government, had at 
length chastised him for his easiness and moderation, 
by the injustice of the grandees, who had prevailed 
over him, and compelled him to depart Rome, that 
in his exile he thought it behoved him to seek no 
other asylum than from a puissant emperor, to whom 
he had the honour to be related, being the issue of 


174 


THE CONSPIRACY 


one of the natural sons of the emperor Henry ; that 
a prince destined by Heaven to destroy tyrants and 
tyranny, must have too much generosity to abandon 
a man, whom it had pleased the Almighty to make 
an instrument in suppressing them. ” After this 
harangue, he told the king a prophecy given to him 
by a holy hermit of Mont-Mayelle during his retire¬ 
ment, and which was in substance, that the eagle 
should be sent to destroy the Corneilles. 

Charles was astonished at the boldness and inso¬ 
lence of a man who had assurance to pretend a con¬ 
sanguinity ; but offended less at such rhodomontade, 
than touched with the frankness with which a per¬ 
sonage so celebrated, who had made even himself 
tremble, came to seek refuge, received him with all 
the honour and affection he judged due to merit in 
distress ; nevertheless, this generosity of Charles was 
not so sincere and disinterested to secure Rienzi 
from being hereafter made a dupe. When he re¬ 
solved to go to Prague, he foresaw that the new 
emperor, who owed his elevation to the pope, would 
make no scruple of making his court to him by se¬ 
curing the person of a man, after whom the holy 
father had made the most diligent search throughout 
Italy. He foresaw likewise, that he should be deli¬ 
vered up to the pope. But unable to find out any 
expedient so proper to compass his design of re¬ 
mounting the throne he was fallen from, he relied 


OF GABRINI. 


175 


upon his eloquence and artifice to engage his ene¬ 
mies, and even the court of Avignon itself. A pre¬ 
sumption foolish in appearance, yet fortunate after¬ 
wards in event. The manner of this bold proceeding 
of Rienzi, instead of completing his min, which 
seemed inevitable, drove him into a labyrinth, by 
which, from a superiority of genius, he might extri¬ 
cate himself with the greater glory; and by that 
kind of fortune, which sometimes attends extraordi¬ 
nary personages, bring his affairs to an happy issue 
after a long chain of misfortunes. The emperor 
Charles was in fact so pleased to have it in his power 
to sacrifice Rienzi to the pope, a complaisance the 
king of Hungary had imprudently refused the holy 
father, that he began to secure his prey, not by im¬ 
prisoning a man who had surrendered himself at dis¬ 
cretion; such a conduct would have been inhuman ; 
but by giving him some guards, in show of honour, 
and as much liberty as he could wish. He was 
treated as a prisoner of the first rank. On the other 
hand, Rienzi, by a refined policy, was willing to save 
Charles from the reproach which must necessarily 
fall upon him, in delivering up to an enraged pontiff 
a wretch, who came to seek an asylum in his domi¬ 
nions. He declared to the emperor, that, as he 
could, he ought to make known his retreat to the 
pope; that, for his part, he feared not to go to Avig¬ 
non ; on the contrary, desired nothing more. Charles, 


176 


THE CONSPIRACY 


overjoyed at this opportunity of blending his inter¬ 
ests with his glory, made immediately his court to 
Clement, and loaded his prisoner with honours. He 
treated Rienzi in great splendour, and received and 
paid his visits as a foreign prince. The curiosity of 
seeing so famous a person, of whom such wonders 
had been related, drew continually such a concourse, 
that he had a court highly distinguished. The 
learned were pleased with his conversation ; his mien, 
his vivacity, and the peculiar eloquence with which 
he expressed himself in Latin, universally charmed. 
His memory always furnished him with the most 
beautiful passages of the ancients, which he properly 
applied; and the natural sallies of his fertile imagi¬ 
nation, made him esteemed a prodigy of wit. 

While he was thus admired and caressed by the 
grandees at Prague, another sort of treatment was 
reserved for him at Avignon. It is difficult to ex¬ 
press the joy which the pope showed at the letters 
which he received from the emperor, wherein he 
was informed by that prince, that he had at length 
in his power the man who had given his holiness so 
much inquietude. The opinion and dread he had of 
Rienzi, are best seen in his answer to the king of 
the Romans, dated August 17, 1350. 

Clement begins with “ returning thanks to the 
Almighty God for preserving the church from the 
furious tempest with which it was lately menaced; 


OF GABRINI. 


177 


for miraculously delivering up that true son of Belial, 
Nicholas Rienzi, into the hands of the emperor; a 
citizen of Rome, but a most wicked and dangerous 
citizen, condemned as a heretic by the legates, car¬ 
dinals Embrun and Ceccano, from whose sentence 
there was no appeal. Afterwards the holy father 
makes his acknowledgments to that prince for se¬ 
curing the delinquent; that he, the emperor, had 
testified his zeal and attachment to the holy see in 
the most illustrious manner by services so considera¬ 
ble and important;-’ he tells him that “ he had writ 
to the archbishop of Prague to propose to him, either 
to send under a strong guard the criminal to Avig¬ 
non, or issue out himself process against him, and to 
acquaint him immediately with his determination, 
that according to the part he takes, he may either 
send a party to bring away the prisoner, or send the 
articles of impeachment against him.” He con¬ 
cludes with beseeching the emperor “ to assist the 
prelate in every thing that shall appear necessary in 
the present juncture, and to take particular care 
that that son of Belial find no means of making his 
escape.” 

Rienzi not only consented to go Avignon, but 
earnestly pressed for it. He surrendered himself to 
John bishop of Spoletto, Roger du Moulinneuf, and 
Hugh Carlatio, three officers whom his holiness had 
sent express to conduct him to Avignon. Through 

N 


178 


THE CONSPIRACY 


all the cities and towns he passed the people flocked 
in crowds to meet him, crying- out they were come 
to rescue and save him from the hands of the pope. 
But he turned about to them, thanking- them for 
their good will, and protested that he went volun¬ 
tarily and by his own option to Avignon. Great 
honours were paid him throughout his route, so that 
he marched rather in triumph j than in the quality of 
a prisoner going to appear before a severe judge and 
an offended sovereign. 


OF GABRINI. 


179 


BOOK X. 

As soon as Rienzi arrived at Avignon, Cle¬ 
ment VI. had the- curiosity to see once more the 
man who, since the time of his first deputation, had 
the temerity and success to render himself greater 
than kings, and who had given him so much trouble 
and inquietude. He caused him to be brought into 
his presence, that he might observe his countenance, 
and hear if he durst say anything in his justification. 
The delinquent appeared at the feet of the pope, 
with a countenance truly modest and adapted to his 
disgrace ; but with such a serenity, that neither the 
majesty of the sovereign pontiff, or his numerous 
court, could disconcert. He told the holy father 
that he was very sensible of the scandals that had 
been raised against him, and the fatal prejudices 
against his person which the sentences of the legates 
created, who had condemned him with much more 
precipitation than justice. That his holiness was 
too equitable to condemn him likewise unheard; that 


180 


THE CONSPIRACY 


far from endeavouring to avoid trial, he had long 
since determined to surrender, if he could have been 
assured of security from his court; t*hat it was with 
no other view he passed through Bohemia, than to 
implore the emperor to obtain from his holiness the 
permission of justifying himself with the less danger; 
that as he had at present the happiness to embrace 
the knees of the common father of Christians, he 
humbly beseeched him to appoint him judges, before 
whom he was readv to give so good an account of 
his conduct, as he hoped, after a strict examination, 
would demonstrate that no man whatever was more 
strongly attached to the church, the holy see, and 
the holy father in particular than he was ; and that if 
he had committed some errors in the government of 
a people so untoward and tumultuous as the Romans, 
they were of such a nature as to render him rather 
an object of compassion than correction. 

The pope, hearing the ring-leader of the conspi¬ 
racy, loaded with crimes most infamous, declare that 
he had not thrown himself at his feet but to implore 
mercy, was amazed at the assurance with which he 
desired judgment, aud pretended innocence. The 
holy father told him, that as he desired justice, his 
-tyrannies most loudly called for it, and laid the holy 
see under a necessity of proceeding against him with 
the utmost severity ; that it would much better be¬ 
come a man, accused of such violent enormities and 


OF GABRINI. 


181 


excesses as he was, to endeavour to obtain indul¬ 
gence by a frank and sincere confession of his crimes, 
than to aggravates them by base pretensions to inno¬ 
cence. 

He was conducted by the pope’s order to a parti¬ 
cular prison prepared on purpose for him as a state 
prisoner, where he was shut up alone and chained to 
the floor. Three cardinals were nominated to carry 
on the proceedings against him. The chief articles 
of accusation turned upon the same grievances which 
the pope had set forth in his letter, written to the 
Homans a short time before Rienzi’s flight, and 
which we have already inserted. 

Rienzi endeavoured to justify himself against every 
article of the impeachment. To the charge of heresy, 
he protested that he was entirely in subjection to the 
church, that if any unguarded term had passed him, 
it was either through ignorance or want of attention, 
that therefore he disowned the whole of this article. 
He acknowledged that he had received the ambas¬ 
sadors of Lewis of Bavaria, and that he had sent the 
same to him ; but with no other intention than to 
bring about his reconciliation to the holy see. In 
regard to Constantine’s urn, he used it not in the 
irreverend manner a pagan emperor had done, but 
frequently received as a good Catholic the body of 
Jesus Christ. As to the pope’s table, he must own 
his belief, that his greatest crime was eating thereon 


182 


THE CONSPIRACY 


with his holiness’s vicar after they had been at dice 
together upon it. He concluded, that the ceremo¬ 
nies so much exclaimed against at his coronation, 
had nothing in themselves either culpable or con¬ 
trary to the rights of the church, although practised 
heretofore among the Pagans. 

The pope w 7 as by nature humane and benevolent; 
no man was a better judge of true merit; he knew 
he had nothing farther to fear from Rienzi; to these 
circumstances our prisoner was most probably obliged 
for the mild treatment he met with. His holiness 
contented himself with detaining him in prison, as a 
person of too dangerous a spirit, and too capable 
of forming new and pernicious projects, to be set at 
liberty. 

Rienzi remained in prison, and, excepting his fet¬ 
ters, was used with great lenity. They furnished 
him with whatever books he desired. He spent his 
time in reading the bible and the Roman historians, 
of whom Livy was his favorite. He read that author 
with great assiduity, making particular remarks upon 
the revolutions, the civil wars, and the dissensions 
between the senate and people. The different pro¬ 
ceedings of the tribunes, their exploits, their suc¬ 
cesses, their misfortunes, attracted a more than 
ordinary attention, as he flattered himself he should 
yet one day make a proper application of some 
passages in regard to himself. 


OF GABRINI. 


183 


But while he was thus searching- in Livy the means 
of re-establishing himself, Providence assisted him 
with those that were more efficacious and certain; 
the troubles which fell out at Rome after his depar¬ 
ture. 

Without expatiating on the two senators esta¬ 
blished by cardinal Embrun, immediately after the 
banishment of Rienzi, or the weakness of their 
administration, which, compared with the inflexible 
resolution of the tribune, formed a dangerous con¬ 
trast on the minds of a people naturally mutinous, 
and of late accustomed to love and fear that idol; 
without expatiating on the legateship of cardinal 
Ceccano, who, notwithstanding the good order he 
endeavoured to maintain during the jubilee, could not 
secure himself from insult, and died at length in the 
manner before related, the Romans, in consequence 
of the jubilee, declared to the pope that they were 
willing to live hereafter in an entire dependence upon 
his holiness; and to give him proofs thereof, they 
besought him to send four cardinals to establish 
among them such a form of government as he should 
judge most proper. These prelates made regulations 
for the government of the city, and pursuing the 
policy of the legates and of Rienzi himself, divided 
the authority between the Colonnas and Ursinis, by 
nominating Sciarra Colonna and Jordan Ursini sena¬ 
tors, with this particular and new circumstance, that 


184 


THE CONSPIRACY 


in their commission it was specified they were made 
so by authority of the pope. Cardinal Embrun gave 
room for this innovation in making himself one of 
the senators for the holy see after the flight of 
Rienzi, and keeping the people in remembrance of 
their dependence upon the sovereign pontiff. But 
the people, on one hand, paid little regard to these 
outward appearances of subjection, which they could 
easily make or relinquish according to their interests; 
on the other, the new senators could not long hold a 
good understanding among themselves. They quar¬ 
relled, and the quarrel was carried to such a length, 
that Colonna, finding himself the weaker, was obliged 
to yield his authority to his copartner. His govern¬ 
ment was no ways pleasing to the Romans, who had 
an inclination to sedition ever since the absence of 
their tribune. The ancient disorders revived ; they 
plundered each other with open violence. They 
found no surer means of getting rid of their senator 
than by engaging underhand his enemies without to 
besiege one of his palaces. Jordan flew for assistance ; 
in his absence the pope’s vicar, Ponce de Perrot, a 
man of a better head-piece and greater resolution 
than his predecessor Raymond in the time of Rienzi, 
laid hold on this opportunity, and, equally dissatisfied 
with senators and people, suddenly made himself 
master of the capitol. But his stay was very short. 
James Savelli, of the Colonna’s party, soon com- 


OF GABRINI. 


185 


pelled him to withdraw, while Stephen Colonna, son 
cf one and brother to the other Colonna, who were 
killed at St. Laurence’s gate fighting against the tri¬ 
bune, possessed himself of a fortress at Rome, which 
was called the Count’s Tower. 

Proceedings like these could not fail of producing 
great confusion in the city, which, during this anar¬ 
chy, was exposed to all manner of public robbery. 
Thefts and murders were again committed with 
impunity : foreigners, who came last to obtain indul¬ 
gence, fell sacrifices to the violences and depredations 
of the populace. If among the citizens those of the 
better sort, touched with the deplorable situation of 
the city, deliberated upon the most effectual means 
to put a stop to these enormities, their consultations 
were as soon broke up as opened by reason of the 
different parties subsisting among them ; each ima¬ 
gining he might at will support or abandon his 
friends. The most honest, however, met to try all 
possible endeavours to avert, after the example of 
Rienzi, evils which were now become insupportable. 

They met in St. Mary’s Church, and agreed that 
the only remedy they had left was to choose a chief, 
who should govern the city with an absolute power. 
They fixed upon John Cerroni, who was elected by 
unanimous consent, and nominated chief of the 
people. He was no more than a citizen of Rome, 
but of a family not the most inconsiderable ; of an 


186 


THE CONSPIRACY 


age and character that rendered him respected, and 
worthy of occupying his place by other methods than 
that of this confederacy. But the late measures of 
the grandees and the mutiny of the people, made these 
kinds of conspiracy in some sort necessary. 

The election over, they brought Cerroni in great 
pomp, but without tumult or arms, to the palace of 
the capitol, which was then possessed by James 
Savelli, after he had driven from thence the pope’s 
vicar. Savelli, unable to make head against them, 
readily complied with their demands, and surrendered 
the capitol. Cerroni entered it, and immediately 
ordered the bell to be rung, which had not been 
heard since Rienzi’s government. At the first sound 
the people flocked without arms; the grandees, on 
the contrary, alarmed at this novelty, and believing 
that the tribune was escaped out of prison and re¬ 
turned to crush them, came, well armed and attended, 
to the capitol. They desired to know the meaning 
of this step; the people answered with one voice, 
that they had chosen John Cerroni their chief and 
governor of the city according to the laws of equity. 
The nobles, astonished at so resolute a reply, assumed 
the best countenances they were able, and subscribed 
to an election made without their privity. 

Cerroni found himself universally acknowledged 
governor ; but to secure his authority, and to follow 
the example of Rienzi, he desired to obtain the con- 


OF GABRINI. 


187 


sent of the pope’s vicar. That prelate came on the 
first notice. As in all appearance he had dived into 
the mystery, and was determined to humble the 
nobles, he cheerfully gave his consent, but with a 
dexterity superior to his predecessor. He insisted 
above all things, that Cerroni should take an oath of 
fidelity to the church, and swear punctually to obey 
every order of the pope. By this step the vicar, 
after receiving his oath and sealing his authority, 
made lawful a conspiracy, which in Rienzi had been 
esteemed tyrannical. All this happened on St. Ste¬ 
phen’s day, and was concluded before noon to the 
great content of the people. It is certain the court 
of Avignon could not have wished for a better choice 
than this made in the person of Cerroni, a just man, 
of an honest heart and a peaceable disposition, an 
enemy to violence, free from all manner of vice, and 
above all, of so equal a frame of mind, that this new 
dignity made not the least alteration in him. He 
governed the people in peace, and without any divi¬ 
sions either within or without, except one excursion 
he was obliged to make upon the territories of John 
de Vic, governor of Viterbo. 

That turbulent man was daily rendering himself 
more and more formidable, by taking possession of 
several places belonging to the ecclesiastical state, 
which since Rienzi’s flight were abandoned to the 
discretion of the first who ventured to seize them; 


THE CONSPIRACY 


188 

the Romans, who could not behold so near and so 
dangerous a neighbour aggrandising himself in this 
manner, judged this the proper time to oppose his 
conquests, as the people, still retaining the idea of 
their old tribune, were willing to follow the paths 
he had marked for them, and attack, as he had 
done, the governor of Viterbo* Accordingly the 
troops were assembled, the command of which was 
given to Jordan Ursini, with orders to join Nicholas 
de Serra, who commanded the forces of the church 
in the territories of the patrimony. The whole 
composed an army of twelve thousand foot and 
twelve hundred horse, which were destined to besiege 
Viterbo, and not to separate till they had taken 
the city. But the moment they were joined, an 
unlucky accident happened, which disconcerted all 
their measures. De Serra, who was appointed com¬ 
mander in chief, upon whose experience they had 
great hopes of making a happy campaign, was torn 
to pieces by his horse running away with him. 
They instantly laid aside their enterprise, separated 
their armies, and the Roman troops returned, without 
performing any other exploit, than pillaging the 
outskirts of Viterbo. 

The issue of this expedition was not attributed 
to Cerroni, who had the prudence, in imitation of 
Rienzi, to nominate another to serve in the profession 
of war, in which he had never engaged. Content 




OF GABRINI. 


189 


to discharge his office with more moderation and less 
severity than Rienzi, he had the honour to govern 
peaceably almost twenty months. 

A conduct so wise should have established, one 
might have imagined, his authority, and gained him 
the affection of the Romans; but he knew little of 
that restless and factious people. They required one 
of more life and spirit: accustomed to the bloody 
scenes and pompous cavalcades of their tribune, they 
were vexed at seeing no more of those pomps, or 
those great executions, which he used to make a 
proper spectacle for their natural inquietude. They 
became tired of the moderation and uniformity of 
Cerroni; he was no longer obeyed, his orders were 
frequently despised; they lost all respect for him, 
and the grandees insulted him with impunity. He 
on his part was tired with ruling a people so fickle 
and untractable, and laying hold of an opportunity, 
which an insult committed upon his person by Luke 
Savelli in presence of the people, gave him, he 
assembled them and resigned his office. The resig¬ 
nation of a man, who was disinterested enough to 
renounce an almost sovereign dignity, or who had no 
more courage than to sacrifice his repose to his 
ambition, caused great division among the Romans; 
some advised to take him at his word; others to 
oblige him to continue in his administration and 
seek revenge. Reynold Ursini, who was at the head 


190 


THE CONSPIRACY 


of the last party, took up arms, and drove Savelli and 
his partisans from Rome; but they soon returned 
with a great army. Cerroni ordered the capitol-bell 
to be rung, but was as much regarded as Rienzi 
was at the time of count Altamura’s insurrection. 
Having secured his most valuable moveables, espe¬ 
cially six thousand florins granted him out of the 
ecclesiastical revenues for the support of his dignity, 
he departed Rome in the month of September 1352, 
somewhat more than a year and half from his taking 
upon him the reins of government. He voluntarily 
abandoned a people, unworthy of such a chief, and 
having purchased a castle in Abruzzo, led hereafter 
a private life, infinitely more happy than Rienzi, as 
well upon the account of the liberty he enjoyed, as 
for the moderation which yielded him his happi¬ 
ness; while the other in his dungeon was more than 
ever a slave to his ambition. 

After the retreat of Cerroni the grandees reas¬ 
sumed their usual superiority, and re-established the 
ancient form of government in nominating senators; 
they still pursued their ancient policy in balancing 
the power of the two illustrious houses, and choosing 
on the one side Berthold Ursini, and on the other 
Stephen Colonna, to appease or at least suspend 
their present animosities. 

During their administration Clement VI. died at 
Avignon, after he had possessed the holy see ten 


OF GABRINI. 


191 


years and seven months. The superstitious, or rather 
the disaffected, at the residence of the popes at Avig¬ 
non, imagined that his death was foretold at Rome 
by a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, which 
melted all the bells of St. Peter’s church, and threw 
down part of the steeple and vault. This storm 
happened on the second of December 1352, and 
Clement died on the sixth of the same month. The 
cardinals entered the conclave a few days after his 
death. To favour the secret practices of the king 
of France, who had already prepared himself by a 
journey to Avignon, the sacred college, of whom a 
great number were his subjects, pushed the election 
with such briskness, that on the 28th of December 
the same year, cardinal Stephen Albert, a French¬ 
man, was chosen, and assumed the name of Innocent 
VI. His abilities raised him from the post of 
auditor of the pope’s palace, to the dignity of a car¬ 
dinal, and now to the sovereign pontificate. Pie was 
a man of an exemplary life, rigid virtue, and fervent 
zeal for the interests of the church, as he demon¬ 
strated after his advancement to the papacy, by the 
measures he took to restore the territories which 
had been taken from her domains. Usurpation was 
indeed arrived at a great height; out of all belonging 
to the church in Romandiola, Ancona, Spoleto, &c. 
little remained undivided. A number of petty 
tyrants took the opportunity of possessing them- 


192 


THE CONSPIRACY 


selves of the church’s rights, not only upon account 
of the pope’s absence and residence at Avignon, 
but the fatal divisions between the church and the 
empire, who plundered alternately each other to the 
advantage of the usurpers. John de Vic, who had 
established the seat of his tyranny at Viterbo, re¬ 
united Ovieto, Marta, Corneto, &c. with all the for¬ 
tresses round about, and further threatened Peruza. 
Ancona, &c. were in the hands of Malatesta. Francis 
Ordelaffi made himself master of Forli, Imola, 
Giazolo, Sec. It may not be improper to give the 
reader an idea of the characters of some of these 
petty tyrants. Francis Ordelaffi had been excommu¬ 
nicated thirty years. The day that the bishop 
anathematised him again by the pope’s order with 
the sound of bell, he on his side caused others to 
sound, excommunicated the pope and cardinals, and 
to carry his outrage to the last degree, burnt them 
in effigy upon the spot: he was continually giving 
affronts to the bishop, which occasioned at length 
his flight; he compelled the clergy to perform divine 
service notwithstanding their orders to the contrary; 
and out of twenty-one priests who refused to obey 
him, and of whom fourteen were religious, he caused 
eight to be hanged, seven to be flayed, and the others 
to be so cruelly tormented, that they expired under 
their punishment. When the legate, whom the 
pope sent, as we have said before, to recover by 


OF GABRINI. 


193 


force the ecclesiastical territories, besieged the town 
of Cesenna, Ordelaffi’s wife, who governed it for 
him, chose rather to continue prisoner in the hands 
of the legate with one of her sons and two of her 
nephews, than return to her husband, so much she 
dreaded the first sallies of his fury. The prelate, 
believing that the natural tenderness of a wife and 
children would mollify the heart of this barbarous 
monster, sent one of his officers to acquaint him, 
that he would immediately release them, upon his 
restoring the church the places which he had torn 
from her. Ordelaffi heard the proposition with 
laughter and contempt, and sent the envoy for 
answer, ‘that he had taken him for a cunning man, 
but found he was mistaken ; that he must know if 
he had him in his power for three days, as he had 
had his wife and children, he would inevitably have 
been hanged.’ The barbarity with which he treated 
two of his children, sufficiently testifies, that his 
answer was less the effect of policy than boldness. 
The first was the youngest of his two sons, named 
Lewis: one day as he was throwing himself at his 
father’s feet, and conjuring him with tears to treat 
with the legate and reconcile himself to the pope, 
“ Begone, you bastard,” replied the monster, “ you 
are no son of mine: ” in a moment, as he was 
endeavouring to avoid his fury, he threw an arrow at 


O 


194 


THE CONSPIRACY 


him, the head of which entered his ribs, and gave 
him a wound of which he died within a few hours. 

The other was one of his daughters married to a 
great lord. She came to seek him, having heard of 
her mother’s imprisonment, and embracing his knees ; 
“ What, my father,” said she, “ will you suffer my 
mother to remain a captive ? In the name of 
Heaven reconcile yourself to the church.” The 
barbarous wretch answered her only by catching her 
by the hair, and spliting her skull with his sabre. 
A man who had so little humanity towards those 
who ought to have been dearest to him, could not be 
supposed to have much towards his enemies. He 
waged a cruel war, without any regard to the laws 
of nations, and without concerning himself about 
reprisals. A crusade was formed against him. 
When Ordelaffi took any of the crusadoes during the 
course of the war, those whom he had a mind to 
use the most gently, he burnt with an hot iron in 
the sole of the foot with the sign of the cross, say¬ 
ing to them in derision, “ This cross of cloth you 
wear must wear out; that I present you with never 
will.” Of those prisoners he chose to treat with 
more severity, some were hanged, some flayed, and 
others beheaded, with this bitter and impious satire 
upon them. “ You have entered into this war,” said 
he to them, “ to obtain Heaven, if I should set you at 


OF GABRINI. 


195 


liberty you are miserable ; you will return to your 
sins: is it not better then to send you while penitent 
into the other world, where you will find paradise 
open for you?” This tyrant was the more difficult 
to subdue, as with all his vices, which rendered him 
an object of public abhorrence, he had the art to 
make himself beloved among-his own subjects. He 
was charitable, popular, affable. He relieved the 
poor, and gave dowries to ladies of small fortunes : 
more attentive to enrich himself at the expense of 
other nations than at that of his own, he so far gained 
the affections of his people, that they were ready to 
spill the last drop of their blood in his service. As 
to the rest, he was a man void of justice, religion, 
humanity: a declared enemy to the priesthood and 
every thing belonging to the church. 

John Visconti, archbishop and lord of Milan, was 
a man of a different character from that of Ordelaffi. 
He had an infinite respect for the popes ; but under 
colour of outward condescension, he seized upon their 
domains without scruple. When they sent prelates 
to him, to make remonstrances upon a conduct so 
opposite to the ecclesiastic power upon his usurpa¬ 
tions and tyrannies, he received them with honour, 
and heard them with a profound veneration for their 
character and for the sovereign pontiff; but at the 
same time under their eyes possessed himself at will 
of all the church lands he was able. Cardinal 

o 2 


196 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Ceccano, passing- throug-h Milan on his legateship 
to Rome, the archbishop went out to meet him with 
a body of officers and led horses so richly caprisoned, 
that the legate in surprise asked him “ For whom 
was so great pomp ?” Fie answered with an air of 
humility, “ that it was to make known to the holy 
father, that he had under him a petty clerk who 
could do something.” About a year before the 
death of Clement VI. this archbishop, so respectful, 
and so submissive in appearance to the pope’s orders, 
took possession of Bologna, a city belonging to the 
ecclesiastical state. The pope, extremely offended 
at an usurpation so heinous in a man engaged by his 
character rather to protect than invade the rights of 
the church, sent to him a legate to bring him back 
to his duty, and insist upon the restoring of Bologna. 
The legate discharged his commission faithfully, and 
added to the archbishop that he might take his choice 
of the temporal and spiritual affairs of Milan, as he 
could not at one time possess both. The prelate having 
heard him respectfully, told him he would bring him an 
answer the Sunday following in the cathedral. On 
the day appointed, having said mass pontifically, he 
advanced towards the legate, who signified to him 
a second time the pope’s orders in presence of the 
congregation, with the same compliment of his choice 
in regard to the temporal and spiritual authority. 
At these words the archbishop taking in one hand 


OF GABRINI. 


197 


a naked sword, and in the other a crucifix, said, 
“ Behold my spiritual in the crucifix, and for this 
sword it is my temporal, and the defence of the one 
and the other.” The legate was obliged to return 
without any other answer, and the pope for his 
refusal and the manner of it, cited him by a brief 
expressly to appear before him, under pain of excom¬ 
munication. The archbishop receiving the brief with 
all possible respect, answered, that he would punctu¬ 
ally obey his holiness* He ordered one of his 
secretaries to set out immediately for Avignon, with 
orders to hire and retain as many palaces, houses 
and stables as possibly he could, with provision for 
the subsistance of twelve thousand horsemen, and 
six thousand men on foot. The secretary executed 
his orders with such diligence, that in a few days no 
lodgings could be got at the inns for the foreigners, 
whose affairs continually called them to court. The 
pope informed of this impediment, asked the secre¬ 
tary, if the archbishop intended to bring the whole 
world with him, as he had occasion for so many 
lodgings ? The secretary replied, he was really 
ifraid that he had not taken enough, for his master 
would be followed by eighteen thousand men, two 
hirdsofwhom would be horsemen, without reckoning 
;he great number of inhabitants of Milan, who would 
iccompany them merely to honour the archbishop 
iis master; upon which the pope wrote to the arch- 


198 


THE CONSPIRACY 


bishop to let him know he would dispense with his 
journey; but his holiness was obliged to pay the 
expenses of his preparations, which being extensive, 
cost the holy father above thirty thousand florins 
for presuming thus to cite the archbishop and lord of 
Milan. 

As for John de Vic and Malatesta, the character 
of the one hath already been given, and that of the 
other will appear in the sequel: if they were not men 
of such rank as the former, they were however for¬ 
midable upon account of their numerous conquests 
and their experience in war. These four tyrants 
and some other being difficult to subdue, Innocent 
VI. resolved to make choice of some person of dex¬ 
terity, for a commission of such importance: He 
cast his eye upon cardinal Giles d’Albornos, a 
Spaniard, who was created a cardinal in the last pro-* 
motion of Clement VI. the 18th of December, 1350. 
He was a man of known merit; his resolution, his 
courage and experience, both in war and in negocia- 
tion, seemed to bid fair for success in this enterprise. 
He distinguished himself in his youth in the war 
of Granada, and against the Saracens and Moors 
under king Alphonsus. Afterwards entering into 
holy orders he became archbishop of Toledo. The 
pope having nominated him legate and general in 
the war of Italy, invested him with full powers to 
grant the usurpers such conditions as he should 


OF GABRINI. 


199 


think fit, and dispose of all the revenues of the holy 
see, which were appropriated for the expedition. 
This extent of power gave room afterwards to his 
enemies to asperse him before Urban V. as if he had 
applied part of the monies to his own advantage. 
They repeated their accusation so frequently, that 
the holy father, as prepossessed as he was in favour 
of cardinal d’Albornos, could not help insinuating to 
him, that for the sake of his reputation he ought to 
account for his fifteen years administration of all the 
ecclesiastical domains; But this snare served only 
to give a fresh lustre to his glory, by the noble 
manner in which he knew how to clear himself. 
He caused a wagon the next day to be placed under 
Urban’s window, drawn by four oxen, and laden with 
the keys of all the cities, towns, and fortresses, 
which he had brought back to the obedience of the 
holy see. Then mounting the wagon, he thus 
addressed the pope: “ Behold, holy father, to what 
purposes I have employed the revenues of the 
church.” Urban admired the greatness of the 
cardinal’s soul, and ashamed that he had given 
uneasiness to a man, who had rendered him such 
essential service, embraced him and loudly com¬ 
mended his disinterestedness and integrity. 

D’Albornos began his expedition about autumn 
1353, and departed from Avignon with a grand army, 
composed of soldiers of different nations. He 


200 


THE CONSPIRACY 


marched through Milan. That he might not startle 
the archbishop, he spoke not one word of Bologna, 
and treated him as a friend of the holy see. The 
archbishop, on his side, received him with such ho¬ 
nours and magnificence, as the pope could not help 
mentioning without praise. He would not, how¬ 
ever, grant him a passage through Bologna, lest he 
might be tempted to seize upon it. As it was pro¬ 
per at the beginning to keep in with so dangerous 
and powerful an enemy, the legate took his route 
through Pisa, entered into Florence, and from thence 
into the territories of the patrimony, where he se¬ 
cured several places, such as Montefiascone, Aqua- 
pendente, and Bolzena. John de Vic kept in his 
possession almost all the rest of the patrimony, by 
which the prelate intended to begin with the resto¬ 
ring the ecclesiastic territories. Fie instantly de¬ 
spatched an express to the prefect, to desire him to 
come and confer with him in an amicable manner, 
with assurances of the safety of his person. De Vic 
went to meet him, and as his practice was to promise 
all, and perform nothing, he readily agreed with the 
legate in every thing, and at the same time signed a 
treaty for restoring those places he had no right to. 
But scarcely was h returned to Viterbo, before he 
imagined he was freed from keeping his word ; he 
put himself in a state of defence, and bantering the 
cardinal said, that he was simple enough to suppose 


OF GABRINI. 


201 


a dash of the pen could restore to him places taken 
by the point of the sword. “ I will not strike a 
blow; ” added he, “ that prelate brings with him 
fifty priests or almoners, whom my footmen alone 
shall demolish. ” The legate soon let him see, that 
his pretended fifty priests were good troops and able 
to demolish him. Having actually made leagues 
with the republics of Florence, Sienna, and Perusa, 
he came before Viterbo, with so considerable a body 
of his army, that he forced Re Vic to surrender 
Viterbo, Orvieto, and all that he had taken from the 
church. 

The cardinal, after erecting a strong citadel at 
Viterbo, and restoring to the pope the whole patri¬ 
mony, directed his march to Ancona against Mala- 
testa. Malatesta, supported by his brother Galeotto, 
a brave warrior, received at first the legate’s proposi¬ 
tions with a bravado; Galeotto carried it so far as to 
propose to decide the quarrel by a single combat. 
The cardinal having accepted the challenge, the 
warrior evaded it with railleries, which obliged the 
legate to pursue him with the main of his army. 
The emperor Charles sent him a reinforcement of 
Germans, whose countenances alone so terrified Ga¬ 
leotto, that he surrendered without drawing a sword. 
Malatesta, to ransom his brother, restored all that he 
had taken. The cardinal made a good use of the 
Malatestas, and placed them at the head of the eccle- 


202 


THE CONSPIRACY 


siastical forces, destined against the other usurpers. 
Ordelaffi cost him much more time and labour before 
he was conquered. He had at once two armies, one 
of twelve thousand croisades, and the other of thirty 
thousand soldiers, who made terrible havoc. Their 
principal achievement was the taking of Cezeno. 
Cia, wife of Ordelaffi, and resolute as her husband, 
governed this city, as he did that of Forli. These 
two places withstood the two armies. The gover¬ 
ness of Cezeno, animated by a letter sent from her 
husband, wherein he exhorted her to make a stout 
defence, answered him, “ Do you take care of Forli, I 
will be answerable for Cezeno. ” She had kept her 
word, in spite of all the legate’s forces who besieged 
it, if she had not received another letter from her 
husband who therein ordered her upon the imme¬ 
diate receipt of it, to behead four Cezeneze, namely 
JohnZaganella, James Bastardi, Palazzino,andBerto- 
nuccio, whom he suspected to be Guelphs, that is to 
say, inclinable to the pope. The governess thought 
herself obliged, before she took any rash step, to ex¬ 
amine into the conduct of these four citizens; and 
finding nothing therein that merited such severe 
usage, she communicated the contents of her letter 
to Scaraglino and Tumberti, two of Ordelaffi’s con¬ 
fidants. They advised her to save them, not only 
upon account of their innocence, but for fear their 
execution should occasion a revolt in the city. The 


OF GABRINI. 


203 


persons accused having heard by some imprudent 
confidant, of the dangers they had escaped, and the 
suspicions entertained of them, vowed revenge. 
Zaganella, in concert with the other three, secretly 
engaged all those they judged disaffected ; the num¬ 
ber was so considerable, that the revolters erected 
batteries, and possessed themselves of one gate and 
some towers; the Hungarians, in correspondence 
with them without, entering the city, animated 
the sedition to so great a degree, that the Mala- 
testas, coming up, made themselves masters of the 
place. 

Cia, enclosed in the citadel, took her revenge upon 
Scaraglino and Tumberti, whom she caused to be 
beheaded; an action her husband by no means ap¬ 
proved of. But neither the obstinate defence she 
made, nor the thickness of the towers to which she 
was retired, could save the citadel. The legate or¬ 
dered all to be undermined. They set fire to the 
pillars of the chief tower, which by its fall alarmed 
the whole garrison; they were upon the point of 
destroying another, when the governess thought of 
a stratagem ; it was to imprison in it a great number 
of Cezenese, whom she suspected most. 

As the legate was reconnoitring the works, he 
was surprised to see above five hundred women, 
with their hair dishevelled, crying out for mercy 


204 


THE CONSPIRACY 


upon their husbands and relations, who were confined 
in that tower upon the point of falling. D’Albornos 
perceived the artifice, and took the advantage of 
pushing the surrender of the place. Having saved 
the lives of those who had been sent to the tower, 
he caused it to be pulled down, in order to enter the 
city through the wide breach, and made the governess 
prisoner of war, with all the garrison. He was just 
going to attack Forli, when an excursion from the 
count of Savoy into Provence obliged him to lay 
down his arms, leaving the management of the 
remainder of the expedition to the abbot of Bologna, 
a Frenchman, who moved very slowly. D’Albornos 
afterwards returned to Italy, and by degrees sup¬ 
pressed all the petty tyrants; some by force, some 
by address, and others by artifice. But without 
entering farther into a detail of these affairs, which 
lasted many years, and which, except the few men¬ 
tioned, are not our subject, we return to Rienzi. 

At the time all Tuscany and the Romans were 
attentive to cardinal D’Albornos, whose grand pro¬ 
jects had set them all in motion, they were strangely 
surprised to behold the celebrated Nicholas Rienzi 
arrived from Avignon in his retinue, whom they 
believed to be shut up close for life in some of the 
pope’s prisons. As the legate treated him with 
honour, although he kept him under his dependence 


OF GABRINI. 


205 


and watched his motions, a return so glorious and so 
unexpected, seemed to have some very strong and 
pressing motives. They were not mistaken in join¬ 
ing the situation of affairs in Italy with the want 
they had of him, and the necessity of his re-estab¬ 
lishment, as shall presently be unfolded. 


206 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK XI. 

Count Berthold Ursini and the young Stephen 
Colonna, who governed Rome in quality of senators, 
since the retreat of Ceroni, excited the murmurs of 
the whole people by their imprudent and self-inter¬ 
ested conduct. As they had resolved to make an 
exorbitant profit of the corn which they sold abroad, 
the granaries were soon exhausted to such a degree, 
that on the 15th of February, 1353, the people went 
to buy corn at the capitol, where the market-place 
was kept, and where the senators lodged ; they found 
so little, and that at so high a price that they were 
most violently enraged. The mob gathered and 
held together, and arming themselves with stones 
ran to the palace, which they entered by force. 
Colonna, who was young, jumped out of a window 
in disguise, and happily saved himself through a 
back door. Count Berthold, less active, could not 
avoid the fury of the populace, although he had 
time sufficient to have armed himself before they 


OF GABRINI. 


207 


possibly could enter his palace. As he was coming- 
down the steps to lay hold of a horse, he was 
attacked with a shower of stones, which stunned 
him so grievously, that he was oblig-ed to crawl to 
an image of the Virgin at the bottom of the palace ; 
but the people, without paying any regard to this 
asylum, continued stoning him with such barbarity, 
that he died, buried as it were under a heap of stones 
six feet high. This catastrophe seemed in some 
measure a remedy for the evils the people had 
undergone. The scarcity ceased, or seemed to cease, 
by reason, that either the people having satisfied 
their vengeance were not so pressing at market, or 
that those, who had laid up stores of corn, chose 
rather to open their granaries, than expose them¬ 
selves to the like sort of treatment. 

Nevertheless the death of this unfortunate senator, 
which had in appearance established plenty at Rome, 
could not produce peace. Two new factions were 
formed, widely different from those, which had 
hitherto rent the city. For instead of seeing always, 
as before, on the one side the Colonnas with the 
Savelli, and on the other the Ursini, in these every 
one of both parties were divided in such a manner, 
that Ursini was seen against Ursini, and Savellis 
against Colonnas; overturning the city, departing 
from Rome, raising troops, keeping the field the 


208 


THE CONSPIRACY 


whole month of August, and filling all places with 
blood and slaughter. 

During these divisions, the governor of Viterbo, 
John de Vic, under pretence of having been prefect 
of the city of Home, formed intrigues to make himself 
master of it. The pope, informed of his designs, and 
of the party he had already engaged at Home, wrote a 
letter to the Romans, exhorting them to prevent the 
enterprises of so dangerous a neighbour. The letter 
was dated August 25, 1355; but before it could 
arrive, and at the very time that the faction of the 
prefect were making use of their utmost efforts in 
his favour, Providence, to punish the Homans for 
their inconstancy and their mutinies, permitted a 
new tyrant to arise in the midst of them, whose 
excess rendered at length the return of Rienzi neces¬ 
sary. 

The tyrant, who appeared on the stage towards 
the close of the month of August, 1353, was named 
Francis Baroncelli, son of James of the same name, 
and of Solpitia Lunella. By the one he was of very 
mean extract, by the other of a very creditable family. 
He possessed the same office as llienzi did at the 
time he was chosen tribune, that of notary of the 
capitol. He had in marriage with Louisa Barati two 
sons, great libertines. As he wanted not ambition or 
genius, and was master of much more resolution than 


OF GABRINI. 


209 


Rienzi, to whom he was inferior in eloquence and 
knowledge, he resolved to follow his steps, and raise 
himself to the same authority by the ways he had 
beaten for him. He found himself in the same cir¬ 
cumstances ; the grandees were absent, and waging 
war with the utmost vigour without; within they 
robbed, massacred, and gave themselves up to all 
manner of luxury, as before the elevation of Rienzi. 
Baroncelli flattered himself he had courage sufficient 
to undertake the enterprise and gain success. As the 
decisive stroke consisted in making himself master 
of the capitol, and of that famous bell which Rienzi 
had made of such service and importance, we shall 
show in what manner he acted to accomplish his 
design. 

The government of the capitol during these divi¬ 
sions was placed in the hands of Paul Jancolini, 
captain of the guards of that place. This man lived 
in open enmity with Nicholas Calvio, a citizen of great 
credit and interest. Baroncelli resolved to make the 
second serviceable to him in getting rid of the first. 
He found Calvio his friend, and assuring him,of the 
warmth with which he engaged in his resentment, 
promised him to deliver up the other as a victim. 
Calvio, who had vowed the death of Jancolini, en¬ 
tered with joy into his proposition. They appointed 
an holiday for the assassination, when the governor 
must hear mass in St. Mark’s church. They agreed 

p 


210 


THE CONSPIRACY 


that Calvio, with a troop of assassins, should wait 
for his enemy during- mass at the church door, and 
that in the meanwhile Baroncelli, who had a corre¬ 
spondence in the capitol, should get the bell rung, 
which should be the signal for Calvio to favour the 
insurrection and assassination. Everything passed 
in the manner they had ordered. On the day ap¬ 
pointed, Jancolini went to church; as soon as he 
heard the capitol bell, he went out directly to see 
from whence came the alarm. He had scarcely got 
out of the porch before the conspirators surrounded 
and massacred him. The friends of Jancolini who 
accompanied him hastened to his assistance, and fell 
upon the assassins; but they, supported by their 
number, made a stout resistance, and the people 
entering into the quarrel according to their different 
parties, a bloody battle’ ensued which lasted four or 
five hours. The tumult became universal; during 
the confusion Baroncelli made himself master of the 
capitol, and hoisted the standard of the people. At 
that time his emissaries having ran through all the 
streets, crying out “Liberty! liberty! liberty!” 
drew the mob to the capitol; when Baroncelli, hav¬ 
ing caused the trumpets to sound, and silence after¬ 
wards to be called, invited the Romans to go into 
Araceli church, in order to maintain their liberties 
most dear to them. The Romans, ever fond of 
novelties, pressed to enter. Baroncelli presently 


OF GABRINI. 


211 


showed himself, clothed in a long robe above his 
arms, and being seated in a chair which was placed 
for him on one side the great altar, he told the 
assembly that “ It was neither ambition or interest 
that engaged him to speak in that place, but entirely 
the zeal with which he burnt for his country. That 
he could never see without the most lively emotions 
the deplorable state in which the unbounded licen¬ 
tiousness of the nobles had again involved them. 
That their violences seemed to be suspended for a 
time only to be committed again with greater fury. 
That by their tyranny and dissensions Rome was 
once more exposed to robberies, murders, and all the 
former enormities ; that no surety remained either 
for their goods, chattels, or lives; that everything, 
both sacred and profane, was,violated; that, in one 
word, nought appeared but a general confusion. Yet 
great as the wound was, he despaired not of a salve ; 
that he was assured he had courage and power- 
sufficient to restore to the Romans tranquillity, 
happiness, glory, and liberty.” 

The people, to whom his discourse had recalled the 
idea of their old tribune, whom they always regretted, 
imagined they beheld him in the person of Baron- 
celli. They unanimously applauded his proposition ; 
they committed to his care the capitol, and sung Te 
Deiim. The next day, agreeable to the plan he had 
formed of copying in everything Rienzi, he declaimed 

p 2 


212 


THE CONSPIRACY 


afresh against the pride and avarice of the grandees. 
He expatiated on the felicity, grandeur, and univer¬ 
sal power of the ancient Romans, and upon the into¬ 
lerable burdens the nobles had for some years past 
laid upon them. He inveighed bitterly against the 
sovereign pontilfs, especially Innocent VI., declaring 
that his absence and residence at Avignon, like his 
late predecessor’s, was the sole cause of the miserable 
bondage under which the people groaned. Then 
calling to mind the government of Rienzi, he set 
forth the necessity of the tribune’s office, and extolled 
the good establishment which that tribune had with 
so much equity and honour accomplished. He con¬ 
cluded, “ That this form of government was so ex¬ 
cellent, that Rome had been entirely restored to her 
former splendour, if Rienzi, intoxicated by his for¬ 
tune, had not turned from his first road to clear a way 
to tyranny and arbitrary power; that the errors and 
vices of that great man had taught him to imitate 
his virtues only, and pursue his schemes ; that if they 
would vouchsafe to elect him tribune, he would 
promise effectually to put a stop to all the disorders 
which the ambition of the nobles and senators, and 
the tyranny of Rienzi, had occasioned; to pull down 
the pride of the haughty grandees, to put an end to 
the public robberies, and suppress the luxury of an 
infatuated city, to re-establish plenty at Rome, justice 
at the tribunal, devotion in the churches, the ancient 
majesty of the republic, and that most precious liberty, 


OF GABRINI. 


213 


for which the Romans had been ever renowned.” 
When he had finished, he took a sheet of paper out 
of his bosom, on which were wrote the following 
rules, which he caused to be read aloud to the 
people :— 

I. Whoever shall dare to disturb, calumniate, or 
by secret murmurs attack the order of government, 
shall be treated as an enemy to his country ; his 
goods shall be confiscated, his house laid level with 
the ground, and, if escaped, his head in effigy stuck 
upon the walls of the capitol. 

II. Every homicide shall be punished with death: 
if he conceals himself and appears not within the 
space of one month, process shall be issued out 
against him for contumacy. 

III. Every accusation shall be brought in presence 
of the accused; and if the accuser makes not good 
his assertion, he shall be subject to the penalties of 
lex talionis. 

IV. Those who shall remove and live without the 
city shall be punished with the confiscation of their 
estate. 

V. The disputes of the Roman nobility with the 
vassals shall be decided by the tribune. 

VI. The nobles who protect public robbers shall 
forfeit the estate on which they are apprehended. 

VII. If any nobleman grant asylum to a criminal, 
he shall be fined one thousand marks of silver, which 
shall be applied to the relief of widows and orphans. 


214 


THE CONSPIRACY 


VIII. The customs, imposts, and other revenues 
of the city shall be applied to no other use than that 
of the public. 

IX. At every quarter of the city shall be set a 
company of one hundred foot, and twenty-five horse 
to mount guard day and night. 

X. Every one of these companies shall be at the 
disposition of the general, and all repair to the capitol 
at the first sound of the bell. 

XI. The lords, barons, and others of the nobility, 
who possess towns, castles, villages or lands within 
the jurisdiction of Rome, shall appear whenever they 
are called to the service of the republic. 

XII. Those to whom any thing may offer for the 
public welfare, shall give advice. 

These twelve rules, made to represent the twelve 
tables of the Roman laws, w r ere received with loud 
acclamations. Baroncelli, to keep up the ardour of 
these first motions, the next day made every captain 
of the quarters take oaths, and make known to the 
people immediately the terms by a cordelier. The 
tribune went afterwards to d’Araceli church, where 
he harangued the people. There he received by 
the hands of Tarquinio Lelli, general of the com¬ 
panies, the tribune’s robe and the vestment of a 
knight. Then he put on a cloth gown trimmed with 
gold, the usual habit of senators, and took in his 
hand a silver sceptre with a cross of gold. After 
which the chancellor Peter Roscio proclaimed him 


OF GABRINI. 


215 


tribune in the name and by the authority of the 
people in this style : Francis Baroncelli, second 
tribune and consul of Rome. 

After his installation, he put the standard of the 
people into the hands of Thomas Monte Rochio, and 
being 1 seated on a purple throne he received homage 
from all the officers of war and justice in presenting 
them his hand to kiss. He began the exercise of 
his office with displacing some magistrates, and put¬ 
ting in their room men entirely devoted to him. 
Among those he displaced, were three registers of 
the senate, whom he caused to be hanged, and others 
to be whipped. He made several examples of seve¬ 
rity upon some particulars, w'hom he punished with 
more or less rigour, according to the nature of their 
crimes; in a word, he determined to strike all with 
terror, according to the example of Rienzi. But if 
he excelled the old tribune in some principal poli¬ 
tics, he fell far short of him in regard to the pope. 
Far from managing so dexterously the court of 
Avignon, and making it authorise what it could not 
avoid, as Rienzi at the commencement of his govern¬ 
ment had done, he imprudently irritated it by an 
open revolt, and by letters as fiery as his conduct 
was insolent. 

The pope, before the receipt of his letter, or 
rather abusive citation, was informed of all that had 
passed by Hugh Arpajon his nuncio. He had heard 
likewise of every motion the tyrant had made to gain 


216 


THE CONSPIRACY 


to his party the Gibelines, always a powerful faction 
against the popes. He knew that to obtain the favour 
of the emperor Charles, Baroncelli had the assurance 
to invite him to Rome, to receive the imperial dia¬ 
dem from the hands of the senate and the Roman 
people, affecting thereby to display the majesty of 
the empire and the authority of the Romans. These 
proceedings, joined to the success of so sudden a 
revolution, alarmed the holy father. He judged 
with reason, that if he gave time to Baroncelli to 
unite with the Gibelines, his party would not be 
inferior. It is true, the petty tyrants were singly too 
weak to resist the forces of the church; but if they 
all joined, they would form a power so considerable, 
as must inevitably baffle all the efforts which the 
legate had for years been making to subdue them 
separately. In this dilemma Innocent VI. found 
himself obliged to oppose the new tyrant; a tyrant 
of great authority, who at the very first began with 
opening the way to tyranny. He imagined that 
Rienzi, chastised by an imprisonment of three 
years, would act with more moderation than he had 
formerly done, and that gratitude would oblige him 
the remainder of his life to preserve an inviolable 
attachment to the holy see, by whose favour he 
should be re-established. 

Rienzi, who had long languished in prison, had at 
length given over all hopes of liberty, and depended 
only upon those who had so closely confined hiim 


OF GABRINI. 


217 


He was agreeably surprised at the time they came to 
take him out of his apartment, with an earnestness 
and in a manner that seemed to bespeak good for¬ 
tune. They conducted him to the pope, who re¬ 
ceived him very graciously, and told him “ That 
the holy see, after the example of God, who desireth 
not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should 
turn from his wickedness and live, had no other view 
in keeping him in prison so many years, than to give 
him leisure to examine himself; that as he had 
room to believe his adversity had made him shine 
brighter than his past extravagancies, and put him 
in a condition of employing to a better advantage 
the happy talents given him by heaveu, he had higher 
views and more glorious than that of barely granting 
him his liberty; that he intended to confer the 
government of Rome upon him in quality of a 
senator ; that, elevated to a rank so high, not by 
conspiracy and a seditious mob, but by the authority 
of a sovereign pontiff, he must behave in that office 
worthy the hand that raised him ; that, forsaking 
the tyrannic maxims that ruined him, he must form 
ideas agreeable to those of a magistrate invested by 
lawful authority; that, in one word, he hoped that, 
justifying by his dependence and submission to the 
church, the choice he had made of his person, he 
would give the holy see reason to be well satisfied 
with the extraordinary and unexpected favours it 
had heaped upon him.” This is the substance of 


218 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the letter, which the pope wrote with his own hand 
in answer to Hugh Arpajon the 15th of September 
1353. 

Rienzi, transported within himself, and scarcely 
believing his own ears, threw himself at the feet of 
his holiness, and made the strongest protestations of 
eternal gratitude. He received absolution, was 
lodged in an apartment of the pontifical palace, 
and treated with great marks of distinction. The 
pope often did him the honour of conferring with 
him upon the measures to be taken to drive Baron- 
celli from Rome, and the insights he could give 
cardinal d’Albornos in the war which he was going to 
undertake against the usurpers. As Rienzi perfectly 
understood the affairs of Italy, it was in his power 
greatly to assist the cardinal. He took him with 
him from Avignon, and assigned him an honourable 
revenue upon the republic of Perusa. Rienzi, well 
equipped, began to resume his air in his former for¬ 
tune. He behaved very gallantly in the wars raised 
to restore the patrimony, especially at the siege of 
Viterbo, where he highly distinguished himself. But 
as he had an object more grand than the vain honour 
of being in the retinue of the legate, to assist him 
with his advice, the times which passed in these 
military expeditions seemed to him most tiresome, 
and he longed for his re-establishment at Rome. He 
frequently pressed the cardinal to conduct him thither 
according to the pope’s orders, at least to furnish 


OF GABRINI. 


219 


him with money sufficient to enable him to return in 
a manner worthy the high dignity of a senator. 
D’Albornos on his side, being not so much pre¬ 
possessed in his favour as the pope was, always put 
him off, sometimes under one pretence, sometimes 
another. That prelate, a man of fine judgment and 
great penetration, found in Rienzi spirit, fire, bold¬ 
ness and eloquence; but the more he studied his 
character, the less solid grounds he discovered in 
him to build upon. High talking, fine promises, 
and vain-glorious projects, confirmed the legate in 
the idea he had formed of this personage, as an ad¬ 
venturer less advantageous than dangerous. Upon 
this idea, he moved the more slowly to establish 
him, as he reckoned the violent measures of Baron- 
celli would soon compass his destruction ; if not, it 
would be indeed necessary to make use of the tyrant, 
who had set him the example. The legate was not 
mistaken in his conjectures. The new troubles, 
which ensued at Rome upon account of the cruelties 
of Baroncelli, confirmed them. Scarcely had that 
new tyrant laid the foundation of his authority, but 
he gave himself up to all manner of debauchery and 
barbarity. He bended no longer his knees, he pro¬ 
moted masquerades, ridottos, and midnight assem¬ 
blies, the sure preludes of approaching ruin. His 
two sons exceeded in violence their father; they 
debauched and ravished without distinction the 
women who unhappily fell in their way. The 


220 


THE CONSPIRACY 


tyrant, solely employed in enriching- himself by the 
shortest ways, shut his eyes to all the rest. He be¬ 
came so covetous and cruel, none dared resist him. 
He beheaded many nobles and persons of distinc¬ 
tion ; among the rest his most intimate confidant, 
Thomas Monte-Rochio, upon mere suspicion. He 
imprisoned Francis and Poncel Ursini, under pre¬ 
tence of their having hired a ruffian to assassinate 
him. He was preparing to embrue his hands still 
farther in blood, when heaven was pleased to deliver 
Rome from so terrible a scourge. Although he 
dreaded the vicinity of cardinal d’Albornos and 
Rienzi, he flattered himself he should gain the vic¬ 
tory over them, and be able to attack the sovereign 
pontiff. He built upon the chimeras with which he 
had fed the people, and upon the powerful succours 
he expected from the Gibelines in Italy, and even 
from the emperor himself; but neither his great 
promises of the restoration of liberty, nor his pro¬ 
fuseness in regard to the Romans, nor the plenty he 
had procured the city, could extenuate the horror of 
his tyrannies. Excommunicated by the pope, and 
given up as a rebel for public vengeance, detested by 
the whole world, he perceived his approaching down- 
fal; and after causing his wife and children to escape 
in religious habits with most of his jewels, as he was 
disposing himself to retire secretly, he was massacred 
in the very same place where he had caused so much 
blood to be spilt, about the middle of December, 


OF GAERINI. 221 

1353, somewhat less than four months after his 
elevation. 

The death of Baroncelli was the most grievous 
disappointment that could have happened to Rienzi, 
as it rendered him hereafter the less necessary. The 
legate also, who was never very desirous of re-in¬ 
stating him at Rome, was still the less so upon this 
incident: he entirely laid aside all thoughts of it, 
when he beheld the Romans, after they had got rid 
of Baroncelli, sending to him their submissions. 
Those fickle people, incapable of remaining long in 
one situation, and passing alternately from obedience 
to revolt, and from revolt to obedience, sent deputies 
to the legate to throw themselves under his protec¬ 
tion, and obtain pardon from the holy see. The 
legate received them very favourably, and promised 
them the pope’s protection, upon condition of their 
leaguing themselves with him against John de Vic; 
which they accepted of, not so much out of zeal for 
the church, as hatred to that governor. In the 
month of May following, in the year 1354, they sent 
a body of ten thousand men to join the army of the 
legate, which then lay before Viterbo. Rienzi, find¬ 
ing himself in the condition we have related, turned 
all his thoughts upon the means (but to no purpose) 
of re-establishing himself at Rome, without the 
assistance of the legate, upon whom he could no 
longer depend. The marks of zeal and devotion, 
which the Romans showed him at the siege of Viterbo, 


2 22 


THE CONSPIRACY 


awakened his hopes. Their army, in fact, looked 
upon him as a man whom Heaven had protected and 
delivered from a thousand dangers, to be a second 
time the restorer of their glory and happiness: they 
docked in crowds to visit him, with such testimonies 
of joy as surprised the legate, and let him see the 
influence this extraordinary genius had over their 
hearts. Rienzi on his side received them with gra¬ 
titude, and sometimes with an air of superiority that 
called to remembrance his former grandeur. He 
spent his time in relating to them his adventures 
since his banishment from Rome, which he no ways 
imputed to the people, but entirely to the jealousy of 
the nobles, who at that time tyrannised. He ac¬ 
quainted them with the reception he met with from 
the king of Hungary ; the honours he received from 
the emperor at Prague; the reasons that prince had 
given to divert his design of going to Avignon; the 
resolution he took to justify himself before the pope ; 
the obstacles he met with at that court; the force of 
his innocence, which obliged the judges rather to 
keep him in unjust captivity than pronounce sentence 
against him; and the equity of Innocent VI., who 
being better acquainted with his case, had taken him 
out of prison as another Joseph, to return to Rome 
in quality of senator: he added that he well knew the 
reasons cardinal d’Albornos had, to delay thus the 
execution of his holiness’s orders, that he should one 
day be restored ; that deep reflection, and reading the 


OF GABRINI. 


223 


Roman historians had given him some insights, and 
inspired him with the most sublime ideas of the 
grandeur of the Roman people; that, as to the rest, 
his sole ambition was to restore to his dear country 
that superiority and that empire, which it once 
had over the whole world, and to spare nothing in 
his power thereto at the hazard of his repose and 
of his life. 

In blending thus truth with falsehood, with that 
artful eloquence he was master of, he enchanted the 
Roman militia, and brought over more than ever to 
his party. When they were upon the point of 
returning, the most considerable of the army went to 
take leave of him, and entreat him not to delay his 
return to Rome, assuring him that as soon as he made 
his appearance, he should be received as a deliverer 
descended from Heaven. “ Return,” said they, “ to 
your dear Rome ; hasten to release her from the 
miserable condition she is in; do this, O sove¬ 
reign ; we will assist you, and believe you have 
never yet been so longed for and beloved as you are 
at present.” 

Rienzi wanted more effectual succours than words; 
their hearts were open, but their pockets were shut: 
the poverty of the Romans could not admit of grant¬ 
ing the sums his exigencies required. The legate 
on his side would advance nothing, excusing himself 
upon the vast expense of his army, which consumed 
all he could take from the revenues of the holy see; 


224 


THE CONSPIRACY 


besides, Rienzi had draughts upon Perusa sufficient 
for his honourable subsistence as a warrior, though 
not for his re-establishment as a senator. In the 
frequent journeys he had made to Perusa, and which he 
repeated often for about eight months, he harangued 
the chiefs of that petty republic to engage them to 
grant him some aid. He made pompous recitals of 
his former grandeur, and of their league with him and 
the Romans, in favour of the good establishment; of 
the brilliant embassy they sent him ; of the wonders 
their ambassadors were eye-witnesses of; of the 
majesty with which he executed justice to the 
people of Italy and to crowned heads ; and of the 
singular preference he had given to Perusa. He 
expatiated on the advantages that must accrue to 
them from his alliance, if they would grant him suc¬ 
cours sufficient to re-instate him in his dignity of 
tribune at this juncture, and that nothing could be 
more glorious or beneficial for them than to procure 
his re-establishment. 

His insinuating speeches were heard with pleasure, 
but the only fruit they produced was a barren admi¬ 
ration, or a trifling excuse, upon account of the 
critical juncture of time, and the vicinity of the 
armies, which obliged the Perusians to be frugal of 
their finances and to be upon their guard. In short, 
notwithstanding the good will of some particulars, 
as well at Rome as Perusa, the result of their con¬ 
sultations came to nothing, and they all began 


OF GABRINI. 


225 


despair of Rienzi, when a lucky accident fell out at a 
time he least expected it. 

There were at that time at Perusa, two gentlemen 
of Provence, fixed by the credit of one of their bro¬ 
thers, a very powerful man in Italy, and to whom the 
Perusians had presented the freedom of that city. 
This last, who was named Montreal, and a knight of 
Rhodes, w r as become a tyrant of a particular stamp. 
The king of Hungary brought him with him into 
Italy at the conquest of the kingdom of Naples, and 
made him governor of Aversa. After the return 
of that prince to his own dominions, Montreal took 
advantage of the troubles in the kingdom to plunder 
the country with impunity. But when Lewis, of 
Taranto, king of Naples, returned to his kingdom, 
after summoning him several times to no purpose, 
he sent Malatesta de Rimini, whom he made his 
lieutenant-general, against him. Montreal, after a 
long blockade, was obliged to surrender, upon condi¬ 
tion of withdrawing himself alone, and saving the 
lives of the garrison. Out of the immense riches he 
had amassed by his plunders, they permitted him to 
carry away no more than one thousand florins. 

The chevalier, bereaved thus of his treasure, and 
enraged against the king of Naples and Malatesta 
formed a scheme, as singular as it was bold, to 
revenge himself on them, and acquire new riches. 
Italy at that time was infested with soldiers, who had 


226 


THE CONSPIRACY 


deserted, and lived entirely by plunder and theft. 
The were chiefly composed of the remainder of the 
army which the king of Hungary had brought for his 
conquest, and who were disbanded upon his leaving 
the kingdom. They were Germans, French, and 
Italians, all vagabonds, but good soldiers, and wanted 
only a commander. Montreal determined to gather 
them together, and take them into his pay, resolving 
to change his knot of public robbers into regular 
troops, and, with them, distinguish himself by plun¬ 
ders more eminent, at the expense of one part of 
Italy. For this purpose, he sent billets into Tus¬ 
cany, Rome, &c. that all gentlemen soldiers, either 
horse or foot, who were willing to enter into his 
service, and fight under his banner, should have good 
pay and provisions. These billets had such an effect, 
that in a very short time he found himself at the 
head of three thousand five hundred men, all disci¬ 
plined and resolute. Such was the origin of these 
formidable bands, who becoming independent of any 
other pow T er than that of the commanders they had 
chosen, made afterwards such terrible havoc in Italy, 
Provence, and several other provinces in France. 

The first use Montreal made of his little army, 
was to bring them against his enemy, Malatesta, who 
had a long time besieged Fermo. This place was 
at the last extremity, and upon the point of being 
taken by the tyrant Megliano, when it was relieved 
by Ordelaffi, tyrant of Forli, who surrendered it to 


OF GABRINI. 


227 


Montreal, rather out of hatred to Malatesta than love 
to the inhabitants of Fermo. This success brought 
his band into great reputation, and it increased daily. 
After putting Malatesta to flight, he sent them out 
to plunder; they took the castles of Mondolph, 
Frata, and San-Vito, besides a number of towns and 
villages. They took Feltrano by storm, where they 
committed horrid barbarities. The terror of their 
name made Montesano and Montefiora surrender. 
They went to Ancona, and took Falconara, and eight 
castles in one day. The name of Montreal, and the 
prodigious slaughter he made, drew such a number of 
soldiers, that they flocked to his standard from all 
parts of Italy, offering their service without any 
other pay than their shares in the plunder they 
should make. Many persons of the first quality 
joined him, and although their birth was superior to 
his, they all acknowledged him general of the army, 
which was soon after called the Grand Band of Mon¬ 
treal. They swore eternal obedience to him, without 
making any other general whatever. They chose 
four of the principal men among them to assist him 
as secretaries in the despatch of business, and the 
operations of war. They were now above twenty 
thousand strong, exclusive of the women who fol¬ 
lowed the army. The discipline which the general 
established, made it appear a kind of an itinerant 
republic, where every one was busy in advancing the 
public weal. 


228 


THE CONSPIRACY 


They raised contributions almost over all Italy. 
Malatesta beholding- their outrages, without any of 
the petty tyrants endeavouring to suppress them, 
strove to engage the republics of Florence, Sienna, 
and Perusa to join him, and oppose the common 
enemy. He went in person to solicit them, and 
demonstrated to them the dangers this torrent of 
desolation threatened; and assured them, if they 
would supply him with men and money, he would 
stop the inundation, and deliver Italy from this new 
monster. His arguments could not prevail. Perusa 
would advance nothing unless Florence declared; 
Sienna was the same. Florence made some advances, 
but was retarded by Perusa and Sienna upon some 
frivolous excuses. Malatesta, destitute thus of suc¬ 
cour, and obliged to surrender to Montreal, who had 
already taken from him forty-four forts, judged it 
his interest to compound with him, by paying forty 
thousand florins in gold, of which he would give 
one moiety down, and his son as a pledge for the 
other, upon condition that the grand band should 
not molest him for such a time. It cost Florence 
twenty-five thousand florins for neglecting the advice 
of Malatesta. Pisa, Sienna, Perusa, were all com¬ 
pelled to enter into composition with Montreal, and 
pay him some more, some less. The tyrants of Forli 
and Fermo were sentenced thirty thousand each; 
they taxed the king of Naples himself forty thou¬ 
sand, which he promised to pay at a time limited. 


OF GABRINI. 


229 


In a word, the band became so formidable, that the 
archbishop of Milan on one side, the contrary league 
on the other, and the prefect De Vic himself, were 
obliged to bring over every one they could to their 
party. Montreal kept them all in suspense; but 
having raised contributions, he at length engaged 
with the party against the archbishop, and sent his 
army, under the command of count Lando, providing 
one hundred and fifty thousand florins for four 

* t 

months’ subsistence. As to himself, he went to 
Perusa, with which city he made an accommodation, 
upon condition of being made free of it, in order to 
meditate new schemes of tyranny. It was in that 
city Rienzi met with the two brothers of Provence, 
by whose means he was in hopes of engaging their 
brother Montreal in his cause. How he effected it, 
and in what manner he afterwards rewarded his 
benefactors, will be presently related. 


230 


THE CONSPIRACY 


BOOK XII. 

Since the chevalier Montreal bethought himself of 
forming his band, and making himself a partisan 
without title to raise contributions throughout Italy, 
he had amassed within a few months (that is to say, 
from November, 1353, to May, 1354) immense 
riches, sufficient to comfort him for those the king 
of Naples and Malatesta had taken from him. 
There were few considerable cities in Italy in which 
he had not money in bank. He had above sixty 
thousand florins among the bankers of Padua only. 
The charms of these riches made Rienzi long to 
obtain the friendship of so powerful a protector; but 
justly imagining that a man of his character, who rated 
his services at a high price, would not readily grant 
succours upon mere hopes, which he might, perhaps, 
look upon as chimeras, he determined not to make im¬ 
mediate application to him, but endeavour to insinuate 
himself into the good graces of his two brothers, the 
one named Arimbald, and the other Betrone, who were 
then busy at Perusa in making the best of the great 


OF GABRINI. 


231 


treasures, and depositing the vast suras, which their 
brother had acquired by his plunder. Arimbald was 
a man of letters, and, as such, susceptible of the 
charms which the learning of Rienzi displayed in his 
conversation. Rienzi made him frequent visits, and 
was always happy in pleasing. They often dined 
together. Rienzi at first affected to let his discourse 
roll on the power of the ancient Romans, whom he 
set off for examples of virtue, valour, prudence, and 
conquest. He spoke in so lively and pathetic a 
manner, that Arimbald was almost transported 
within himself. Rienzi could the better address 

i 

him, as he was a young man of spirit, not expe¬ 
rience, of an imagination adapted to receive chimeras 
as realities, especially those of an imagination strong 
as his own. Arimbald, infatuated with his discourse 
and his projects, was never tired with hearing them. 
He took such delight in him, that afterwards they had 
but one table, and one apartment; they were night 
and day inseparable. At length dazzled by the fine 
promises of Rienzi, who had given him his word to 
make him no less than his lieutenant-general, and 
render him more powerful than the chevalier Mon¬ 
treal himself, he determined to espouse his cause, 
and contribute to his re-establishment. Rienzi 
demanded three thousand florins of gold, to set up 
his equipage and raise soldiers. Arimbald promised 
him more, and took out of his coffers four thousand, 
which he put into his hands. But whether he dared 


232 


THE CONSPIRACY 


not to dispose of that sum without his brothers 
consent, to whom part of it belonged, as taken out 
of the common chest, or whether Rienzi himself 
persuaded him to give the chevalier advice of it, that 
he might endeavour to get more hereafter, Arimbald 
wrote his brother a letter, wherein, with an air of 
confidence, he told him, “ I have got more in one 
day, than you in your whole life: I am master of 
the sovereignty of Rome; I maintain the famous 
Nicholas Rienzi, chevalier and tribune of Rome, 
whom all the people demand with loud voice : I 
believe I shall not be mistaken in my schemes, and 
I flatter myself that you will not disapprove of them. 
For the rest, as money is requisite to begin with an 
undertaking of such importance, I have made bold 
to take out of the common chest four thousand 
florins: I am raising soldiers, wait for your answer, 
and am, &c.” 

Rienzi judged right, when he imagined Montreal 
would not have so good an opinion of this enterprise 
as his brother. Yet he built so much upon success, 
that he hoped by this confidence one day to bring 
him over to his interests. His answer to Arimbald 
was to this effect: “ I have maturely weighed your 
scheme; it is so vastly extensive, that to speak my 
mind freely, it appears to me superior to the power 
of your forces: I cannot apprehend you are able to 
execute it: act, however, as you think fit, but wisely 
and for the best, especially taking such measures as 


OF GABRINI. 


233 


may secure the four thousand florins from being- 
lost. If you meet with any obstacle on the way, 
write to me, I will immediately fly to your assist¬ 
ance with a thousand or two thousand men. You 
and your brother may depend upon me; I would 
have you love each other, and let no one know of 
your design.” 

Arimbald, who waited with patience for Montreal’s 
answer, no sooner received it than he flew with joy 
to impart the news to his friend; but he, before 
raising levies for his journey to Rome, was willing 
to pay the legate a visit to obtain his consent. The 
first use he made of the moneys he had received, was 
to set up a magnificent equipage, that he might 
appear as tribune august. The richest dresses were 
made for him, and he had a number of footmen, 
whose liveries answered his magnificence. He, 
mounted on a superb steed, followed by all his 
domestics, and accompanied by the two brothers of 
Provence, went to visit the cardinal legate at Monte- 
fiascone. This new pomp seemed to revive his 
former spirits. He entered the palace with the air 
of a man accustomed to authority, not forgetting, 
however, the politeness of a court. Accosting the 
legate, he told him that he had put himself in a 
decent condition, to come to receive his orders with 
the more dignity; that he beseeched him to pro¬ 
claim him senator of Rome according to the intention 
of his holiness; and that he would go in that quality 


234 


THE CONSPIRACY 


to Rome to prepare the way for him, and assist to 
bring- to the obedience of the sovereign pontiff, all 
those whom a spirit of sedition had misled. 

Cardinal d’Albornos, who had received no orders 
contrary to the first, or who perhaps regarded little 

j-.. 

the execution of this project, thought he run no risk 
in agreeing to what in fact he was not able to refuse. 
He declared him senator of Rome and governor of 
the city, without granting him, however, succours 
either in men or money to enable him to take posses¬ 
sion of his dignity. 

Rienzi, who regarded the obtaining this consent as 
a masterly stroke of policy, returned, highly satisfied 
with the interview. As he had no necessity but for 
soldiers to conduct him to Rome, happily for him he 
found at that time at Perusa two hundred and fifty 
horse, which Malatesta had disbanded after his accom¬ 
modation with Montreal. Rienzi sounded them by 
one of his friends, who made proposals to them to 
take them into his pay for two months. He told 
them they were going upon a glorious expedition to 
escort to Rome the lord Nicholas Rienzi, whom the 
pope had sent with the title of senator. This troop 
was composed chiefly of Germans. Their com¬ 
manders having consulted each other upon the pro¬ 
position, concluded at first not to come into it for 
three reasons: the first was the character of the 
Romans, whom they looked upon as a nation replete 
with pride, and ostentatious in their speeches, which 


OF GABRINI. 


235 


was really fact; the other two were the weakness of 
Rienzi, a man of mean birth, whose misfortunes 
could not promise them any hopes of recompense ; 
and the hazard of such an enterprise, which must 
unavoidably irritate the Roman nobility. They all 
rejected it, except one of the troop, who stood up, 
and told them for his part he saw no difficulty for 
them in the affair. “ Let us take,” said he, “ the 
money offered to us, and conduct the good senator to 
Rome; it will be to us a journey of interest and 
piety ; afterwards, as things turn out, we may either 
remain or retire, just as we think fit.” The sincerity 
of this advice overruled them. They treated with 
the emissary of Rienzi, who laid down upon the nail 
the pay agreed upon for one month. To this cavalry 
he joined two hundred foot, which he had enlisted in 
Tuscany, exclusive of the brave Perusians. 

With this little body of an army raised in a hurry, 
Rienzi hastened his departure, marched through 
Tuscany, and traversed the mountains usually in¬ 
fested by those parties, who had scoured Italy, but he 
had the good fortune to arrive within sight of Rome 
without any molestation. As soon as the people 
heard he was approaching their joy was universal. 
They made preparations to receive him in all the 
pomp they used to receive their ancient conquerors. 
The Roman cavalry marched out to meet him, car¬ 
rying olive-branches in their hands as emblems of 
victory and peace, the people ran in crowds without 


236 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the gates to escort him. They erected triumphal 
arches; they lined their streets with their finest 
tapestries; they strewed flowers; and the moment 
he appeared, the trumpets and other instruments 
sounded, frequently interrupted by the huzzas of the 
multitude. 

Amidst this triumphal pomp, Rienzi was con¬ 
ducted to the capitol; at his arrival he made an 
harangue with greater energy than usual. He repre¬ 
sented himself “ as another Nebuchadnezzar, who 
was obliged to disappear seven years. But,” added 
he, et by the visible protection of heaven, I come not 
as one banished, who cannot return without terror, 
but as a senator, established by the voice itself of the 
vicar of Jesus Christ; that that puissant voice, which 
had delivered him from an unjust captivity, and con¬ 
ferred upon him a lawful authority, was alone suffi¬ 
cient to atone for his incapacity ; that as he promised 
to make use of the most effectual means to restore 
the Good Establishment, he had room to hope he 
should bring it to a happy issue.” He made after¬ 
wards public acknowledgments to the two brothers, 
to whom he owed this happy restoration. He made 
them the standard-bearers of the republic, and girded 
the sword about a Perusian named Ceccho, on whom 
he conferred the honour of knighthood, and pre¬ 
sented with a robe trimmed with gold. Ceccho, it 
seems, led the brigade which conducted Rienzi to 
Rome. 


OF GABRINI. 


237 


The next day he received the deputies of the 
neighbouring- cities, who congratulated him upon his 
restoration. He made magnificent promises to them, 
and acquainted them with the grand projects he was 
meditating. 

During all this triumph of Rienzi the nobles kept 
themselves in tranquillity, waiting the event. Some 
days passed in mirth and public rejoicings. The 
nobility had just suspicions of a new tyranny, as 
they beheld in the city nothing but detachments of 
the brigade, dazzling the people’s eyes with vain 
splendour. The new senator, according to his cus¬ 
tom, amused the Romans, whilst he sent couriers to 
all parts of Italy, to notify his restoration, and to 
invite them to assist him, in renewing the Good 
Establishment. As he founded the security of his 
authority upon the destruction of the nobles, and 
attributed to them the former flight; he resolved, a 
second time to make use of every artifice to crush 
them. 

The grandees, at his arrival, for the most part 
retired to their estates in the country, to observe at 
a distance, and in safety, what turn this new govern¬ 
ment might take, as the first had too justly rendered 
them suspected. The foreign troops, which entered 
the city, and seemed to forebode a despotic and inde¬ 
pendent authority, gave them room to penetrate into 
the secret designs of the senator. 

Four days had scarcely slipt away since the return 


238 


THE CONSPIRACY 


of Rienzi, before he issued out an order for all to 
come to Rome, and take the oath of allegiance. The 
pretence was the more specious, and the snare the 
better laid, as it was difficult for them to refuse with¬ 
out offending the pope, by whom the senator held his 
authority. As the house of Colonna was the most 
considerable, and whose ruin would easily bring forth 
the fall of the rest of the nobility, he thought it best 
to flatter young Stephen Colonna, who was become 
the chief of the family since the unfortunate death of 
his father and his kinsmen, who were killed at St. 
Laurence’s Gate. He showed him particular marks 
of distinction. He sent two deputies, principal citi¬ 
zens of Rome, Buccio Jubileo, and John Casarello, 
with a commission to let him know, that all that was 
required of him was matter of form, only to set others 
an example ; that if he would give the senator this 
mark of submission, he would on his side promise 
everything: but on the contrary, if he refused, he 
should be obliged to come against him, and bring 
matters to such an extremity, as might make him 
heartily repent. 

Colonna had been too cruelly offended, and had 
himself too sensibly offended, to imagine there could 
be forgiveness on either side ; he resolved, therefore, 
to shut himself up in his castle in Palestrina, and 
fortify himself against the enterprises of a man, whom 
he justly looked upon as the murderer of his kins¬ 
men, and the sworn enemy of his house. He re- 


OF GAB III NI. 


239 


ceived the deputies of the senator, as a sovereign, 
enraged to see a subject presume to treat with him ; 
without vouchsafing them even an audience, he 
caused them to be thrown into a dungeon, ordered a 
tooth to be drawn from each of them, and fined them 
four hundred florins for having the impudence to 
bring such orders to a person of his rank. The next 
da)" he took the field with his garrison, and made an 
excursion to the very gates of Rome, where he took 
prisoner all that were without the gates. 

The murmur which this first act of hostility ex¬ 
cited in the city, obliged Rienzi to mount on horse¬ 
back, and hasten to gather together the soldiers, some 
armed, and some without arms. He took the route 
of Palestrina, judging that Colonna would retire thi¬ 
ther. But Colonna, foreseeing he would not fail to 
pursue him, ordered his forces to go aside into the 
forest of Pantano, between Tivoli and Palestrina, and 
there lay concealed till night, under favour of which 
they could conduct the men they had taken to the 
castle ; which was executed accordingly. The sena¬ 
tor, after ranging all day to no purpose, was sur¬ 
prised at night, and obliged to go to Tivoli, where 
the next morning he was informed of the manner in 
which his enemies escaped him. Ashamed of hav¬ 
ing been such a dupe, and reproaching himself for 
marching at random, he vented his resentment by 
imprecations against the Colonnas, whose ruin he 


240 


THE CONSPIRACY 


publicly vowed ; and as the fortress of Palestrina was 
the magazine of their arms, and the centre of their 
power, he resolved to besiege it in form. The four 
days he remained at Tivoli, he employed in making 
preparations for the siege. Notwithstanding the 
decline of his former virtues, at this juncture he 
seemed to resume his wonted activity. The ardour 
with which he laboured, plainly showed he had at 
heart the enterprise he was meditating; he ordered 
from Rome immediately all his forces, both horse 
and foot. Arimbald and Bettrone, whom he had 
made his lieutenants-general, arrived at the head of 
the troops, carrying the old standard, which Rienzi 
had set up in Rome at the time of his first elevation 
But he rashly engaged in a war for which he wanted 
the necessary fund ; he depended, perhaps, as usual, 
upon fortune ; but soon found himself mistaken, and 
abused by her. The mutiny of the foreign troops, 
especially of the Germans, more untractable than 
the others, threw him at once into a dismal dilemma. 
They dissembled whilst they were at Rome; but 
finding themselves in the field, and independent, they 
declared to the senator, that for want of their pay 
they had been obliged to pawn their arms, and that, 
in one word, they would remain no longer in the 
service, unless they could be satisfied of their pay. 
In the want he had of troops, and in the indigence 
he found himself, he knew not what course to steer, 


OF GABRINI. 


241 


till necessity furnished him with an artifice in which 

he succeeded. He sent for the two lieutenants-ge- 

neral, Arimbald and Bettrone, to whom he imparted 

the straits he was driven to by the perverseness of 

the Germans, and the vexation he was in to see, by 

their fault, a conquest snatched from his hands which 

ought to have recompensed them both the favours 

with interest, which they had shown him. “ I see,” 

added he, “ but one remedy left for this evil; and 

that is the Roman history, which furnishes me with 

one apropos. I remember to have read that the 

republic, once finding herself in a condition much 

like ours at present, that is to say, without money, 

and under a necessity of carrying on a war, the 

consul assembled the most dignified and richest of 

the Romans, and told them that it was their part, 

who held the highest offices in the republic, to set 

an example to others, by contributing voluntarily to 

the public welfare. His speech,” continued he, 

“ made such an impression upon them, that they 

cheerfullv made assessments, and raised the sums 
* 

required to pay the troops. Permit me then, in the 
same circumstances, to make the same proposition; 
it is more your own interests than mine. Begin, and 
I’ll warrant that the good people of Rome, touched 
with seeing foreigners contribute so generously for 
them, will bring immense sums into our hands.” 

Although the speech was not very agreeable to 

R 


242 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the two brothers, yet like gamesters, in hopes of 
winning, they resolved to hazard more. They 
brought to him a thousand florins in two purses. 
This money, distributed among the German cavalry, 
appeased their murmurs. Rienzi at Tivoli assem¬ 
bled the citizens in the market-place of St. Laurence, 
and made one of those harangues which had so often 
charmed the ears of the Romans. He told them, in 
the most pathetic terms, of the services he had done 
the republic while he was tribune; the inveterate 
enmity of the Colonnas to the good establishment ; 
that he was obliged to quit his government at the 
time his grand designs were opening in favour of 
the Romans; that at length, after many years’ exile, 
his holiness, by singular favour, as prejudiced as he 
had been against him, had created him senator, that 
he might restore to his country peace and plenty, 
and suppress the efforts of tyranny : “ but alas,” 
added he, “ I am prevented by the opposition of 
one house, always fatal to the repose of Rome. De¬ 
liver me from this monster-born, and I will make 
you happy : it is owing to him you live in indi¬ 
gence, while your neighbours live in affluence and 
tranquillity ; my design is to besiege Palestrina, and 
shake to atoms the rest of your old tyrants : join 
with me, brave friends; let us destroy the common 
enemy ; let us take vengeance of past injuries ; and 
let us secure for the future an unalterable repose, 
which our success shall yield us.” 


OF GABRINI. 


243 


This harangue had all the effect he could wish 
for. The people of Tivoli not only agreed to follow 
him, but were so diligent that they spent but one 
night in their preparations. Rienzi, to give this 
ardour no time to cool, began the next day his inarch 
with these new forces, and went to encamp at Cas- 
tiglione, the general rendezvous. He was stopped 
two days in waiting for the auxiliary troops he had 
demanded from several quarters. They came from 
Velletri, Farsa, and all the flat countries and moun¬ 
tains round about. ..When these forces were all 
assembled, the army marched towards Palestrina, and 
encamped one league from that place, at the village 
of St. Mary, to forage, according to custom, before 
they began the siege. Beside the infantry, com¬ 
posed of the irregulars of Tivoli and others, he 
had a body of one thousand horse, as well foreigners 
as Romans. His army was numerous enough to 
destroy Palestrina, but affection fell short of number. 
The foreigners were unwilling to serve against the 
Colonnas, and, unable to dispense with the march, 
although they had received their pay, resolved to 
carry on the war as slowly as possible. On the 
other hand, the Romans, whom the rest made the 
rule of their actions, paid not the same regard to 
the new senator they had done to the old tribune. 
When the camp was fixed at St. Mary’s, every one 
studied how he should pass the time agreeably at 

r 2 


244 


THE CONSPIRACY 


play or carousing-, leaving- the general all the burden 
of a war, which he had undertaken solely for his own 
interest. As he ceased not to employ himself more 
arduously, he reconnoitred himself the place, which 
to him seemed most difficult of access. It was a 
noble castle, strongly fortified and situated upon the 
top of a hill which commanded all the country 
round it. He could not bear the prospect, but 
searching some avenue weak enough for him to 
attack, he formed a thousand idle schemes of rage 
and revenge. He would sometimes cry out—“ Behold 
that haughty and rebellious hill, which I must 
level/' He was continually surveying the ramparts, 
whence the enemy seemed to brave his wrath and 
impotence. He saw r cattle go in and out freely, 
while wagons loaded with provisions went in at 
another gate. He endeavoured to cut off all com¬ 
munication with the castle, but the Romans, little 
disposed to favour him, and brought over in part by 
the nobles, replied, the attempt seemed to them im¬ 
practicable. The senator, deceived by those who 
approved of his design, tore like a madman to meet 
with such difficulties in its execution, and to behold 
so little good will among his troops. He vainly 
consumed his menaces against the Colonnas; and, 
calling too late to mind his error in not turning to 
better advantage the battle at the gates of St. 
Laurence, “ Ah,” said he, “ if during the consterna¬ 
tion my enemies then were in, I had suddenly fallen 


OF GABRINI. 


245 


upon Palestrina, I should not have seen myself in 
this extremity, and Rome had been free.” 

The next day he began to pillage, and as that 
caused no risk, and turned to the advantage of the 
army, they readily came into it. They continued 
their havoc for eight days : the flat countries were 
already ruined and laid waste. Rienzi found himself 
obliged to disband the irregular forces, and send back 
his army to Rome. The chief cause of this retreat 
was the division among the irregulars of Velletri 
and Tivoli, as their vicinity produced jealousies and 
fomented disputes; several of the chiefs deserted 
and retired to Palestrina ; those that remained in the 
camp were every day upon the point of coming to 
blows with those of Tivoli; so that Rienzi, to prevent 
such dangerous dissensions, was obliged to separate 
his army at a time he had the most pressing reasons 
to keep it together at Rome. But before we unfold 
the reason, it may not be improper to trace back the 
change of the Romans, in regard to their tribune, to 
its origin, and the dissatisfaction that appeared in this 
expedition, and which afterward burst out more 
openly. 

It might reasonably have been expected, that 
Rienzi would have profited by reflection in a long 
disgrace, and that a three years’ imprisonment would 
have given him room to examine into his past 
conduct. Invested now with a lawful authority, 
conferred by the sovereign pontiff, and agreed to by 


246 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the people, he might have been supported by a firm 
and mild government without giving any advantage 
to the nobles, keeping them within the limits of 
respect and duty, if a boundless ambition had not 
inspired him with designs too great for him to 
execute. The errors of his second administration 
exceeded those of the first: adversity, far from sup¬ 
pressing his vices, added to them : his ambition, his 
cruelty, his avarice became more violent, and at the 
same time less circumspect and artful. During the 
course of his first administration, he knew how to 
curb his passions, at least to palliate them under 
pretence of the public welfare; but no sooner was 
he a second time established, than he forgot his 
misfortunes, and intoxicated himself with his pros¬ 
perity : he kept so little guard upon his words, that 
in his very first harangue he let drop some expres¬ 
sions that tended to a tyrannic sway. The people 
perceived it, and the nobles made the best use of it 
to promote their own interests. Degenerated from 
that austerity of life, and from that sobriety which 
had cast such a splendour on him in the former days 
of his elevation, he now gave himself up to an 
excess of intemperance. The indecency of a vice 
so opposite to the customs of the Romans gave great 
offence: they no longer regarded the tribune, who 
had once been a model of temperance in a city 
which could scarcely at present see one virtue in 
him; since his re-establishment he grudged the small 


OF GABRINI. 


247 


time he spent in public business, and gave himself up 
entirely to feasting; morning, noon and night he 
tippled; his converse with the Hungarians and Ger¬ 
mans taught him this vice, upon which to put some 
gloss, he pretended that his insatiable thirst was the 
effect of poison given to him in prison. He grew 
quite unwieldy; his face was bloated and his eyes 
changed their colour, sometimes inflamed and blood¬ 
shot; his beard was long and neglected; his whole 
air, in one word, was so inexpressibly barbarous and 

fierce, that it was impossible to look at him without 

# * 

horror. His debaucheries affected no less his mind 
than his body, which became inactive and incapable 
of application. His temper was exceedingly altered. 
Restlessness, inconstancy, caprice, were foibles that 
were born with him, but of which he had once 
made admirable advantage over a people equally as 
restless, inconstant, and capricious. 

Such was the course of the second administration 
of that celebrated tribune, who flattered himself he 
should obtain universal monarchy. It must be con¬ 
fessed that, since his return, he had partly laid aside 
his chimeras ; that he never rose up against the pope, 
his sovereign, as he had formerly done, and that he 
was in some things praiseworthy : but whether the 
black part of his character surpassed the white, 
whether the fickle humour of the Romans was at 
that time incapable of fixing, a stability of govern¬ 
ment, or whether the former novelty, to which they 


248 


THE CONSPIRACY 


had even been idolaters, had lost its charms by the 
hopes of another, it is certain that this second admi¬ 
nistration was much less fortunate to them and to 
Rienzi than the former, as will be seen after we have 
shown the secret and pressing- motive that oblig-ed 
him to lay aside his expedition against Palestrina, and 
suddenly return to Rome. 


OF GABRINI. 


249 


BOOK XIII. 

The chevalier Montreal, understanding that the 
senator, far from endeavouring to reimburse the sums 
which he had advanced for his restoration, had bor¬ 
rowed some thousand florins more of his brothers, 
repaired to Rome during the expedition against 
Palestrina. He went accompanied with a small 
retinue, to solicit the payment with great haughti¬ 
ness ; and not considering that he was in a city 
wherein he could not express himself with the same 
freedom as at the head of his army, he let drop com¬ 
plaints and threats against the senator, intimating 
that the hand which raised could as easily over¬ 
turn and ruin. At the same time he had the indis¬ 
cretion to say, in the presence of his domestics, 
that Rienzi was a traitor whom he could not move 
either by reason, persuasion, or promises; and 
that he would slay him with his own hand. The 
arrival and discontent of Montreal came to the ears 
of the senator, who, justly imagining that this chief 
of the robbers, after having raised contributions over 


250 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Italy, was plotting against his authority and person, 
resolved to oppose him. He surprised Rome by his 
sudden return, but he kept itjiot long in suspense, 
and the treachery of a servant gave him room to 
publish the true motive of it. This woman, irritated 
at some ill usage she had received from her master 
Montreal, determined to revenge herself by the most 
cruel means. She went secretly to the senator, and 
approaching him all in tears, she pretended she knew 
not how to unfold too much or too little of an affair 
so delicate, as to affect equally the life of her master 
and that of the tribune; then, after a few artful 
fetches to excite the more his curiosity, she told 
him all she had heard the chevalier mention. 

Rienzi, less astonished at the mystery she had 
unfolded, than rejoiced at having so fine an opportu¬ 
nity of destroying Montreal, upon whom he redoubled 
his vengeance, missed not his aim. As he knew that 
warrior capable of undertaking the most desperate 
enterprises, and saw himself continually attended by 
his two brothers, he was apprehensive of being 
ruined by the very men who had raised him. The 
obligation he lay under to them for his new fortune, 
was to him a burden the more insupportable, as he 
found himself in no condition to repay the favour, 
or those sums he stood indebted for. He was in 
great want of money to pay his troops and establish 
his authority ; the aid he found at first to restore him 
failed for want of security; he had to no purpose 


OF GABRINI. 


251 


exhausted all his artifices, to engage the three 
brothers not only to be less pressing for their 
monies, but further to make new efforts to put him 
in a situation wherein he might show his gratitude 
with the more grandeur and dignity ; but covetous¬ 
ness had a greater ascendancy over Montreal than 
any other consideration. Rienzi resolved to seize 
upon Montreal, and ordered him instantly' to be 
brought before him. The chevalier, who knew not 
that he was betrayed, and had perhaps forgot the 
expressions which had slipped from him, presented 
himself without fear or suspicion. Rienzi caused 
him to be forthwith thrown into a dungeon and fet¬ 
tered. His two brothers were at the same time taken 
into custody, as accomplices in the pretended conspi¬ 
racy, the - news of which the senator took care should 
presently be published throughout the city. 

Montreal, less a politician than a soldier, could not 
conceive by what fatal snare he had thus imprudently 
thrown himself into the hands of a man, too much 
offended to believe him innocent, and too vindictive 
to forgive him : he opened his eyes too late, and 
calling to mind all that an enraged woman had 
deposed against him, doubted not but he was entirely 
lost. He was ready to despair on reflecting that 
selfishness and avarice had cost him his life; yet as 
he knew Rienzi selfish and avaricious as himself, he 
was in hopes he should find out means to appease 
him, and extricate himself out of the abyss he 


252 


THE CONSPIRACY 


had unfortunately fallen into. He knew that the 
senator was in extreme want of money, and impatient 
to raise it at any interest whatever. Rienzi, indeed, 
although he was obliged to disband part of his forces, 
looked upon the expedition against Palestrina as laid 
aside only by the necessity of the times. Persuaded 
that he should never be secure as long as that place 
remained an asylum for the nobles and other male- 
contents, he was more determined than ever to risk 
all to destroy it. The difficulty was to find the 
money requisite, without laying new taxes upon the 
people, whose affections he was willing in these 
beginnings to obtain. On the other hand, the 
foreign troops murmured, and it was thought that, if 
he did not satisfy them, they would raise an insur¬ 
rection, betray and deliver him up to the Colonnas, 
whose party greatly increased in the city. Montreal 
resolved to take advantage of the perplexing condi¬ 
tion of the senator: he offered Rienzi, upon condition 
of setting him at liberty, to pay his forces, bring him 
fresh, and supply in general all his exigences, leaving 
his two brothers in his hands as hostages. 

The offer was not mean, and Montreal relied so 
much upon the success of his negociation, that he 
already comforted his two brothers, telling them he 
would not have them be uneasy at remaining hostages 
for him ; that he should make but a short stay, and 
bring with him twenty thousand florins for their 
ransom; and that he should at length calm the 


OF GABRINI. 


253 


madness of Rienzi, in giving- him more men and 
money than his heart could wish for. But the 
chevalier’s brothers knew better the bottom of the 
senator; they could not persuade themselves that 
he would sacrifice his veng-eance to his avarice. 
They nevertheless conjured Montreal to spare no 
pains to deliver them as soon as possible from one 
so cruel. The chevalier soon found himself mis¬ 
taken, and that his brothers knew better the character 
of the man than he. The very night Montreal was 
apprehended, while he was sleeping soundly upon 
the security of his offers, and the sacrifice of his 
treasures, he was awakened in surprise and dragged 
to the rack. As it was not customary to use men 
of fortune in that manner, the chevalier at the sight 
of the cords and the preparations for the torture, 
could not withhold his indignation : “ Wretches,” 

said he, flying at those who came to torture him, 
“ from whence this insolence to insult a person of my 
rank ? ” Then giving them the strappado, and lifting 
himself from the ground : “ Ah ! ” said he again, 
“ am I no longer general of a powerful army ? 
Must I see myself in this condition, after raising 
contributions throughout Tuscany, and making 
all Italy tremble ? ” This was a crime sufficient 
to complete his ruin. Rienzi well knew that his 
proceeding, in regard to Montreal, could not be dis¬ 
approved of by the sovereign pontiff. It is uncertain 
what confession the chevalier made upon the rack; 


254 


THE CONSPIRACY 


he was, however, reconducted to prison, where, judging 
from the treatment he met with, there was little hope 
left of mercy, he desired a confessor, and spent the 
remainder of the night with a cordelier, that he might 
prepare himself to die like a Christian. He settled 
his affairs with great presence of mind, and, turning 
himself afterwards to his brothers, who melted into 
tears, “ Comfort yourselves,” said he ; “ I die resigned 
and content, and the more so that I die alone; you 
will not accompany me : I understand both men and 
things well: I know it is my life, not yours, the 
tyrant has in view ; he will sacrifice me, and save 
you : happy is it for me, for the expiation of my 
offences, to die in the sacred place where the inno¬ 
cent blood of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. 
Paul was spilt. It is you,” continued he, addressing 
himself to Arimbald, “ it is you have thrown me 
into this abyss of misery; but, far from reproaching 
you, I see you only to comfort you. I am a man as 
you are, and as such have been surprised, deceived 
and betrayed. Cease then your affliction, study only 
to learn mankind: your happiness depends upon 
your union : for bravery, honour and probity I leave 
you my example to follow. Show yourselves the 
worthy brothers of a man who had made Italy bend 
to him. I know my destiny, and as my intentions 
have been upright, I doubt not of mercy from the 
A Imighty.” 

In such terms of affection and heroism he dis- 


OF GABRINI. 


255 


coursed with his brothers until the fatal day. He 
desired to hear high mass in the morning, and in 
token of penitence assisted with naked legs and arms. 
About nine of the clock the people were assembled 
at the sound of the capitol bell, and the prisoner was 
conducted to the Lion’s Steps (the usual place where 
prisoners received sentence); he was clothed in a 
long robe of black velvet trimmed with gold; in 
his hands, which were tied, he carried a crucifix, and 
w’as assisted by three cordeliers. At his arrival he 
kneeled and turned his face towards St. Mary’s 
church in the capitol : afterwards he arose and 
turned to the people : “ Romans,” said he, “ how 

can you set your hands to the death of a man 
who never offended you ? But I perceive plainly 
your poverty and my affluence of fortune to be the 
cause. As it is the will of Heaven, I am content 
to die where St. Peter and St. Paul died. But 
that perfidious tyrant,” added he, meaning Rienzi, 
“ will not reap by my death the advantages he has 
promised himself: it will be fatal to him.” 

While they were pronouncing sentence upon him, 
he chanced to overhear among the people the word 
gibbet, which threw him into a violent passion, 
believing he actually was condemned to that igno¬ 
minious death; but they that stood nearest him 
informed him that he was to be beheaded. This 
assurance calmed him, and he heard the remainder of 
the sentence with tranquillity. Afterwards, assuming 


256 


THE CONSPIRACY 


a countenance more fierce than steady, “ Alas ! ” 
said he, “ what am I, and what have I been ? I 
have seen myself at the head of a multitude ten 
times more numerous than (pointing to the Romans) 
this I now* see.” However resigned he outwardly 
appeared to his fate, the natural horror of a death, 
so widely different from that he had often stared in 
the face in the field of battle, shocked him. During 
his sentence he was continually turning himself from 
the right to the left, and from the left to the right, 
protesting to the people his innocence, and repeating 
what he had before said, “ that their poverty and 
the affluence of his fortune was the real cause of his 
catastrophe. I was come,” added he, “ to relieve 
your country ; I had great designs for the glory of 
Rome ; behold them all perish with me.—Ah ! must 
I die ? ” But recovering himself on a sudden, and 
giving place to sentiments more noble and Christian- 
like, he kissed the crucifix which he held in his 
hands. 

In these cruel alternations of transport and steadi¬ 
ness he arrived at the place appointed for his execu¬ 
tion. He fell on his knees in the midst of a great 
ring of soldiers and people who surrounded him. 
He turned to the east, and recommended himself to 
God; then arising before the stake, he kissed it, 
praying God to protect justice. He made a sign of 
the cross upon the place on which he was to lay his 
head, and, having kissed it again, he pulled off his 


OF GABRINI. 


257 


cap, which he threw aside, and placed himself in the 
manner designed for him. The axe, which was to 
cut off his head, was fastened to one end of the stake. 
As soon as he perceived the executioner going to 
examine the joints, he cried out that he must not 
do it where he thought fit; upon which his surgeon 
came up, and gave the executioner directions where 
to strike the fatal blow, who, in a moment taking up 
the axe, separated his head from his body. The 
cordeliers who assisted, immediately took away the 
body, and with red silk sewed the head to it; after 
which they put it into a coffin, and conveyed it to 
St. Mary d’Ara Celi, where they buried him. 

Thus died this great man, who had gained in 
Italy so great renown for his prudence and valour. 
It is true he turned his great talents into violence 
by his plunders; his covetousness was a snare to 
him ; for the rest he had a great and noble soul, an 
excellent genius in the art of war, and a singular 
talent in attracting the love and esteem of his 
soldiers. Heaven made use of him to punish the 
Italians, and he was punished by Rienzi, who 
deserved a thousand times more the punishment. 

It was doubtless surprising that the senator did 
not accept of Montreal’s offers in the extreme want 
he was in both of men and money ; but besides ima¬ 
gining he should get more by his death than he bad 
offered, he was too politic to set at liberty a man 


258 


THE CONSPIRACY 


whom he had so cruelly treated. He rightly appre¬ 
hended, that a commander of his credit among his 
troops, after he had paid his ransom, would not fail of 
coming to revenge himself at the head of that tenible 
hand. The senator had much less to fear from that 
hydra, after he had cut off the principal heads. He 
persuaded himself he had at the same time rendered 
Italy great service in delivering it from a monster, 
whose least motions made dismal havoc. The army 
of Montreal, deprived of their commander, became a 
body without a soul. These considerations made 
Rienzi blind to the brightness of gold, deaf and 
inexorable to the petitions of his benefactor, and 
forgetful of all favours bestowed. But refined as 
this policy appeared, it answered not his expecta¬ 
tions ; the death of the chevalier was of more preju¬ 
dice than advantage to him. If Montreal s catas¬ 
trophe was pleasing to the little states he had 
unmercifully pillaged, it was lamented by the Romans, 
who had received no injuries from him. Rienzi 
thought to prevent the ill consequences of this step, 
by the artifices he made use of in drawing up the 
sentence, which declared Montreal deserving death, 
as being captain of a band of public robbers, as a 
scourge that had afflicted Tuscany, Florence, and 
Sienna; as a man guilty of numberless murders, 
outrages, conflagrations, and all the horrors of an 
unjust and barbarous war. But this had no effect 
upon men of penetration, and those whose hearts 


OF GABRINI. 


259 


were alienated; even those who had the least cause 
to regret the chevalier, forgot or extenuated his 
crimes, and exclaimed against the execrable periidy 
and ingratitude of Rienzi, who made use of the power 
he held from him and his brothers to oppress them. 
As for those who were attached to the interests of 
Montreal, their grief was conspicuous in the person 
of one of his officers. He was then at Tivoli, and 
hearing of the misfortune of his commander, that he 
was imprisoned, racked, sentenced, and executed in 
less than thi-rtv hours, he fell down dead upon the spot. 

Rienzi, who had taken possession of all he could 
recover of Montreal’s effects at Rome, gave himself 
no great concern at what one or the other thought 
of the execution without; but within the opinions 
of the people alarmed him. He saw with grief that 
the courage, the affability, and the Cliristian-like 
behaviour at the hour of death of the chevalier, had 
caused even those wffio hated him in his prosperity, 
to lament his misfortunes and sincerely pity him. 
He perceived this clamour producing indignation 
against his administration ; and he well knew that 
the Colonnas would lay hold of the opportunity of 
rendering him odious to the Romans, for his eager¬ 
ness to possess himself of his effects at his death. 
He was assured their partisans would insinuate, that 
there was no security for the nobility or the com¬ 
monalty with a traitor, w r ho had sacrificed to his 


260 


THE CONSPIRACY 


avarice the man to whom, above all the world, he 
owed the highest obligations. 

The senator, dreading the consequences of this 
alienation of their minds, and their secret murmurs, 
thought to appease the people with one of those 
harangues which had always hitherto succeeded. 
He assembled them at the capitol, and disguising 
with artifice what his actions rendered odious, — 
“ Romans,” said he, “ what cause have you to 
lament thus the death of thebasestof men ? Will you, 
by an untimely compassion, authorise the temerity 
of every one who shall make a merit of pillaging 
and overthrowing your country? Know you not 
that the traitor whom thus you grieve for, plundered, 
ransacked, and burnt a number of castles and cities ; 
that he massacred all who fell into his hands without 
distinction of age or sex; and that before his death 
he kept above two thousand women in slavery? 
Are you credulous enough to believe the speech he 
had the insolence to make to you ? No doubt you 
believe he came to Rome to advance your glory and 
power ? Know you so little of this tyrant ? Jealous 
of the good establishment, he came to destroy it; 
amidst your broils he formed the execrable scheme 
of establishing universal tyranny ; but the Lord, who 
permits scourges merely to chastise children for the 
offences of their parents, suffered him to fall into 
the snare we had laid for him. The traitor is now 
no more, and we are living ; not only free from the 


OF GABRINI. 


261 


dread of his dangerous intrigues, but in possession 
of his arms, his horses, and his treasures destined 
for our ruin, and which we will employ for our 
preservation.” 

This discourse, which wanted not some grounds 
of reason, soothed their minds, and for a while 
suspended their murmurs; insomuch that Rienzi, 
plucking up his spirits, began to renew his prepa¬ 
rations for the expedition against Palestrina. But 
Montreal’s affair was of too great importance to pass 
unregarded by the pope and his legate. The latter, 
informed of this proceeding, sent the senator an 
express order to deliver into his hands Arimbald, 
the elder of the two brothers of Provence. Rienzi 
detained them in prison not so much upon account 
of any crime they had committed, as the apprehen¬ 
sion he was under that their too recent grief for the 
death of their brother might carry them to some 
extremity, which he must be obliged to punish for 
justice, or suffer out of necessity. He obeyed with¬ 
out hesitation, more out of regard to the holy 
see, with whom he was unwilling to embroil himself, 
than for the legate D’Albornos. He knew that 
by this step he should give no offence, but, on the 
contrary, should not fail of approbation in thus 
purging Italy of such an enemy as Montreal. He 
sent away Arimbald, but retained his brother 
Bettrone, as the legate required no more than one 
in his power. 


262 


THE CONSPIRACY 


Exclusive of the money Montreal brought to 
Rome and placed among the bankers, he had con¬ 
siderable sums in several cities of Italy; out of one 
hundred thousand florins which he had at Rome, 
Rienzi could not get one moiety. John de Castello 
had the cunning to convert to his own use great 
part. It appeared that the senator, to supply the 
necessities of the good establishment, of which he 
was ever mindful, longed to seize upon all the 
effects of Montreal, and that he had succeeded by 
means of Arimbald, who knew his brother's secrets, 
and had redeemed his liberty at the expense of his 
treasures, but that cardinal D’Albornos, whose senti¬ 
ments were as noble as equitable, esteemed it not 
just to profit by the injustice of Montreal, and by 
the blood of so many unfortunate men whom he had 
exhausted. He was attentive to their cries, and 
preferred a generous compassion to the most brilliant 
advantage. The difficulty lay in knowing where the 
sums were deposited; no one could give a better 
insight than Arimbald, whom his brother charged 
with the management of his affairs. It was to get 
this hint that the legate made court to him. Under¬ 
standing that part of the money was deposited in 
some provinces of Italy, he seized upon it in the 
name of the pope, as ill-gotten goods, and declared 
that he would as soon as possible distribute it among 
the unhappy creatures Montreal had reduced to want. 
The pope, naturally generous and disinterested, came 


OF GABRINI. 


263 


so entirely into the designs of the legate, that he 
sent a particular order to Raymond abbot of St. 
Nicholas, at that time his nuncio at Venice, to draw 
from the bankers of Padua sixty thousand florins 
which were consigned them by Montreal, and en¬ 
joined him to employ that sum in relieving those 
whom Montreal's excursions had ruined. 

By this step Rienzi was disappointed of the aid 
he had promised himself. As to the effects of the 
sufferer, which he confiscated at Rome, he made use 
of them in paying his forces, who were exceedingly 
turbulent and mutinous. To secure himself from the 
same distress for the future, and compass the great 
scheme he had always at heart, the ruin of the house 
of Colonna, he took a method different from that he 
had made use of in his former expedition. The 
temerity with which he undertook it, the necessity 
of employing foreign troops, and the volunteers 
who were hourly thwarting his purposes, the want 
he was in of money to supply his urgent necessities, 
exposed his intentions to the raillery of the public, 
and caused him to be looked upon as a man of little 
experience in war; but he concerted this second 
attempt with all the art and ability of the most politic 
sovereign. 

He began with declaring, that he would keep in 
his pay no other soldiers than those who, by an un¬ 
alterable zeal and an unshaken fidelity, had testified 
their attachment to his interests. He disbanded all 


264 


THE CONSPIRACY 


upon their parole, and permitted them to retire if 
they thought fit. He made choice of the prime only 
of those who were willing* to remain with him, and 
dismissed the rest; by which means he formed a 
little choice body upon whom he could depend, and 
whose cavalry consisted of three hundred men, all fit 
for action, and capable alone to make all the little 
Italian cities tremble. This first care was the fruit 
of the reflections he had made on the ill success of 
his former expedition. 

As he reconnoitred by himself the castle of Pales¬ 
trina, he perceived it fortified by art and nature, 
garrisoned by troops who were determined to defend 
it to the last extremity, and commanded by the 
renowned Colonnas, whose only asylum it w as ; it was 
difficult therefore to besiege it in form. On the 
other hand, he apprehended that a long blockade 
would inevitably occasion his absence from Rome, 
during which he knew cabals would be held, which 
would oblige him to bring back his troops to Rome, 
where the Colonnas had already too many secret 
abettors. He determined to keep himself close shut 
up in the capitol to settle the operations both within 
and without. 

He drew up a plan, w r hich redounded much to his 
honour. Instead of keeping his forces together in 
one body, as before, he divided them into several 
detachments, and appointed the little towns about 
the castle of Palestrina their magazines of arms, such 


OF GABRINI. 


265 


as Frescati, Castiglione and Tivoli. Every one of 
these detachments was to harass the enemy by their 
excursions, and possess themselves of all the avenues, 
that no provisions or succours should be carried in to 
the besieged. This was the most effectual method 
he could take to starve the Colonnas, or compel 
them to surrender. His plan settled, he resolved to 
nominate an experienced general; his judgment ap¬ 
peared in the choice he made of Liccard de Hanni- 
balis, surnamed for his glorious actions the Bold. 
To him the senator communicated his plan, con¬ 
certed with him each day’s attacks, according to the 
situation of the places, and fixed upon the number of 
couriers who should go and come with intelligence. 
Having exhorted him to signalise his zeal for his 
country, maintain his high reputation, and repay the 
confidence which he had at this critical juncture reposed 
in him, he ordered him to march about the beginning 
of September with all the troops, except a very few 
he kept for the security of the city of Rome. 

After the departure of the army, the senator ap¬ 
plied himself solely to the operations of this war, as 
the soul and primum mobile of it. He was con¬ 
tinually sending away and receiving despatches upon 
despatches, to alter his orders according to the exi¬ 
gency of affairs, and examine the secret advices of 
his spies, who were of infinite advantage to him. He 
was served with such fidelity, that he knew better 
what passed in the army than many officers who 


266 


THE CONSPIRACY 


commanded in it. In his instructions were seen 
a sagacity and ability worthy of those great princes 
who commanded their armies in the cabinet. The 
reputation and esteem of the people, which he began 
to regain, increased considerably upon the repeated 
informations of his good success, which was entirely 
owing to his own indefatigable application, and the 
experienced valour of Liccard de Hannibalis. Lic- 
card locked up the besieged so closely, that they 
durst not appear, nor make those desperate sallies 
they before had done. Pursuant to the repeated 
orders of the senator, all the avenues were so strictly 
guarded, that no manner of succours could be thrown 
in to them. The Colonnas wasted by inches; they 
found no refuge to prevent their approaching ruin. 
They beheld at the head of the enemy a general well 
versed in the art of war, who perfectly knew the 
country, and who could readily take advantage of a 
decisive moment, and the least error of his adver¬ 
saries. The general had indeed w T on the affections 
of his whole army ; they obeyed him more out of 
inclination than respect to his post. The foreign 
troops themselves, especially the Germans, who in 
the former expedition were most untractable, en¬ 
deavoured to outvie the Italians in zeal and attach¬ 
ment to their general. They declared aloud that 
they had never served under one more brave or wor¬ 
thy of command. This happy harmony in the army 
greatly hastened the siege, which would soon have 


OF GABRINI. 


267 


been ended, if Liccard could have reinforced himself, 
and conveyed his experience to the officers who 
commanded at it. He never failed one day to gain 
some advantage, the news of which at Rome added 
great weight to the authority of Rienzi. In the 
midst of this success, to heighten his joy, he received 
from pope Innocent a brief, dated August 30, 1354, 
which confirmed him in his office and dignity of 
senator, and. which was couched in terms full of 
truly paternal affection. This piece seems to deserve 
the curiosity of the reader, and is as follows:— 

“ Innocent VI. sovereign pontiff, to our noble and 
dear son Nicholas Rienzi, chevalier and senator 
of Rome. 

“ If you will seriously reflect, dear son (as you 
cannot fail to do without ingratitude), upon your 
past and present condition, you will find you have 
just reason more and more to devote yourself to God 
your creator, to return him your most sincere thanks 
for all he has vouchsafed in your favour. It is to 
him you owe your happy talents ; it w r as he who 
took you from obscurity, and set you at the head of 
the most distinguished by birth ; it was he, who,, be¬ 
holding you intoxicated with your elevation, forget¬ 
ting yourself, and presumptuously committing the 
grossest errors; it was he, I say, who condescended 
to (what you ought most seriously to consider) chas¬ 
tise you with his paternal hand, and suffer you a 


268 


THE CONSPIRACY 


long time to feel the rod of affliction, yet after all 
preserve you from death, and, contrary to all hope, 
and the wishes of many, restore you to your former 
grandeur. These considerations, and a number of 
others which you may call to mind, ought always to 
dwell upon your mind, and make you fear God, 
honour the church, have respect to your superiors, 
affability to your equals, tenderness for your subjects, 
charity for the widows and orphans; rendering jus¬ 
tice strictly to one and the other without any respect 
of persons. God preserve you from any reproach on 
this account. Let the proud, the rebellious, the 
wicked feel the weight of your rigour and severity; 
nevertheless let them partake of your mercy. You 
are established to maintain justice, maintain it by a 
just administration ; if you defend it, it will defend 
you, and preserve you from the wiles of your ene¬ 
mies. To conclude, rest assured you will obtain, if 
you implore the Almighty, the benefits granted to 
St. Augustin, to know him and to know yourself. 
Done at Avignon, August 30, the second year of 
our pontificate.” 

This obliging and tender letter of his holiness w r as 
followed by a positive order to cardinal d’Albornos, 
to confirm publicly Rienzi in his office of senator. 
The second brief was dated September 9, of the same 
year 1354, in which the senator founded his ho pe 
of being settled for life in his new authority. 


OF GABRINI. 


269 


BOOK XIV. 

Every thing seemed to concur with the senator’s 
wishes, and promised him an administration as peace¬ 
able as lasting. His alteration in his conduct, his 
application to business, his disinterestedness during 
the course of the war, and the confirmation which the 
pope had sent, all appeared to presage a happy reign. 
His only difficulty lay in finding out ways and means 
to raise supplies to maintain his forces, who were 
a great expense, at a time the Romans were in great 
poverty. Although the confiscated effects of Mon¬ 
treal were applied to the payment of his debts, and 
the forming a choice army, that transient aid was 
not sufficient for the execution of his designs. He 
found himself under a necessity of having recourse 
to taxes, as a more ready and permanent resort. He 
laid a duty upon wine and upon salt, under the name 
of subsidies. These imposts, moderate as they were, 
not amounting to above sixpence upon wine, and in 
proportion upon salt, produced a considerable revenue. 
The people, although apt to startle at the name of 


270 


THE CONSPIRACY 


imposts, cheerfully paid them, persuaded by the dis¬ 
course and example of the senator, that exigencies of 
state required them. Rienzi actually began to set 
an example. He retrenched his table, he lessened 
the number of his retinue, and lived in the most 
frugal and saving manner, contrary to his custom and 
inclination. He kept his family in as much order 
and regularity as a private gentleman. He amassed 
not to himself, as heretofore, the public treasures, 
but applied them with the greatest economy to the 
welfare of the republic. 

A conduct so judicious and moderate sheltered him 
not, however, from the destiny that threatened him. 
His jealousies, his suspicions, his violences which 
followed, made his virtues forgotten and his vices 
remembered. In a short time he became as odious 
to the Romans as he had been dear to them. There 
was at Rome a man respected by the whole world, 
and in high reputation for his singular virtue and 
probity. He had the true character of an old Roman ; 
incapable of a base action, of an integrity attested 
by all, and of an irreproachable life: he was named 
Pandolf de Pandolfucci. The senator made him his 
confidant; but the fruit of the dangerous friend¬ 
ship he contracted with Rienzi, was, as usual, mis¬ 
trust and jealousy. He dreaded a reputation founded 
upon virtue, therefore sacrificed his friend to his 
caprice, and caused him to be beheaded without cause 
or compassion. This cruel action filled the minds 


OF GABRINI. 


271 


of the people with so much horror, that they looked 
upon him as a monster, who regarded neither inno¬ 
cence, virtue, nor friendship ; and notwithstanding 
the terror of Rienzi’s name, and the impression of 
hatred which always attends tyranny, prevented their 
murmurs breaking out openly, their universal indig¬ 
nation manifested itself in the gloomy and melancholy 
air that was visible in every countenance. 

The senator, who perceived it, became only the 
more cruel. His jealousies produced only fresh 
murders. In the continual dread he was in, that 
the general discontent would terminate in some 
secret attempt upon his person, he determined to 
intimidate the most enterprising, by sacrificing some¬ 
times one, sometimes another, and chiefly those 
whose riches rendered them the more guilty in his 
eyes. Numbers were sent every day to the capitol 
prison. Happy were those who could get off with 
the confiscation of their estates. 

Nevertheless, all these violences removed not the 
tyrant's fears. Great as the terror was with which 
he struck the people, doubts, fears, and alarms per¬ 
petually tormented him. The inconstancy of his 
temper, and the appearance of his approaching fate, 
caused him sometimes to abandon himself to despair, 
and at others to resolve to face all dangers. The 
extravagancies natural to him became more extra¬ 
vagant, and carried him to indecencies which ren¬ 
dered him as contemptible as he was odious. He 


272 


THE CONSPIRACY 


would laugh and cry in the same moment without 
occasion. As he despised the whole world, the whole 
world despised him. The people, as much offended 
at these inconsistencies, unworthy of a senator, as 
wearied of his tyrannies, longed for the happiness 
of being delivered from the very man whom, a few 
years before, they esteemed a deliverer and a prophet. 
Their murmurs were, however, still kept secret. 
The seeds of sedition were sown in every breast, but 
none appeared openly. They knew not where to 
find a man bold and powerful enough for their leader. 
The guard of fifty men, which the senator had placed 
in every quarter, not so much for the sake of good 
order, as the security of his person, kept the most 
rash in awe. They themselves, it is true, were not 
well satisfied with Rienzi, who paid them very 
indifferently, as the army abroad exhausted all his 
finances. Yet he kept these troops to their duty 
by his fine speeches and promises of rewards worthy 
their attachment. Whatever disposition they might 
be in to revolt, the senator, judging himself in a 
condition of apprehending nothing from the Romans, 
pushed on so vigorously the war against the Co- 
lonnas, that he was upon the point of subduing 
them, with all the nobility, and fixing his authority 
upon an immoveable foundation, when he com¬ 
mitted an error that proved the principal cause of 
his ruin. 

Liccard de Hannibalis, whom he had set at the 


OF GABRINI. 


273 


head of his army, had done everything- that could be 
expected from the experience and abilities of the 
greatest general. The affection of his soldiers, the 
progress of his operations, and the indefatigable pains 
he took in all his motions, attracted the admiration 
of the besieged themselves; and reduced them to 
the necessity either of surrendering, or of seeing 
themselves soon forced to do so, without some unex¬ 
pected succour. The senator in the capitol had 
nothing to do but give his attention to the intelli¬ 
gence he received from his army ; but his ill fortune 
prompted him to recal this experienced and faithful 
commander. It is uncertain whether the jealousy of 
the troop’s attachment to Liccard gave Rienzi um¬ 
brage, or whether this step was merely the effect of 
his caprice; he dismissed him, however, and ap¬ 
pointed in his room several commanders, who having 
neither his courage nor conduct, carried on the war 
in such a manner, that the besieged soon observed 
the change. Delivered from such an enemy as Lic¬ 
card they plucked up fresh spirits, and the success of 
the Romans afterwards declined. Liccard, enraged 
at the ingratitude of a man whom he had served 
with such fidelity, retired discontented, and reducing 
himself to the post of a common officer, took his 
revenge upon Rienzi; a revenge common to great 
abilities despised, and which frequently costs the 
despiser dear. 


T 


274 


THE CONSPIRACY 


The Colonnas and Savellis laid hold on the oppor¬ 
tunity. Informed by their partisans of the situation 
of affairs at Rome, of the universal aversion to the 
senator, and the favourable disposition toward them, 
they resolved not to let slip so great an opportunity, 
but ruin the tyrant beyond redemption. They ani¬ 
mated by their emissaries their friends to raise an 
insurrection. It was no sooner proposed but it com¬ 
menced. The people waited only the signal of some 
adventurer bold as Rienzi once had been, to make the 
lirst motion. The conspiracy was carried on with 
such secrecy, that the senator, although he had spies 
in every corner, heard nothing of what was hatching 
against him, till the moment it burst out openly. 

It was on the 8th of October, 1354, in the morning, 
when Rienzi in his bed was disturbed with the loud 
and repeated cries at a distance of “ Long live the 
people.” He could neither perceive the arms, nor the 
authors of the tumult ; but the cries repeated again, 
as by echoes, seemed to sound as if they were near 
the capitol, where the mob gathered, and every 
moment increased, to know what was the cause of 
this emotion, of which they were entirely ignorant. 
The mystery was not long unfolding; the clamour 
was soon followed by a number of armed men, who 
appeared marching in platoons, and who were no 
sooner joined than they changed their note, and 
instead of “ Long live the people,” they cried out. 

Let the tyrant perish.” At that instant the people 


OF GABRINI. 


27 o 


finding a party formed against the senator joined with 
them. The young men presently took lire, and 
brought out a multitude of women, children, and old 
men, all enraged as much against Rienzi as the 
unknown ringleaders of the insurrection. The guards 
before mentioned declared against him, and those sol¬ 
diers he retained for the security of his person 
appeared accomplices. The capitol was in a manner 
invested, they threw stones at the windows, and all 
cried out with one voice, “ Let the traitor who laid 
excises perish ! Let that traitor perish !” 

The senator affrighted, instead of sounding the 
alarm, and putting himself in a posture of defence at 
the first cry of “ Long live the people,” thought to 
dispel the storm by shaking off the danger. He had 
not yet published the brief of September 9, which 
confirmed him in his office ; his hopes cast anchor 
thereon, and with the mob he cried out, “ Long live 
the people.” He came out of his apartment, pro¬ 
nouncing these words, and affecting an air of serenity, 
which his countenance contradicted. “ Yes,” said 
he, “ let the people live long! I say so from 
my heart. Alas! what interest have I but their 
preservation? It is to secure their lives and proper¬ 
ties that I here remain, that I have set the army on 
foot, and that the sovereign pontiff has confirmed 
my authority by a bull, which shall immediately be 
imparted to the council.” 

t 2 


276 


THE CONSPIRACY 


But while he vainly endeavoured to hearten him¬ 
self by such sort of discourse, the confused noise of 
the populace, who no longer cried, “ Let the people 
live ! ” but “ Let the traitor perish! ” would not permit 
him long- to dissemble ; he presently found the capitol 
forsaken; judges, officers, soldiers, domestics, all flew 
at the first alarm : they were afraid of being them¬ 
selves involved in his misfortunes; not above three 
persons remained in the capitol. 

Roused from his lethargy, he perceived too late 
the danger he had brought on by immuring himself. 
He desired the advice of his three domestics : but 
all they could say tended rather to let him know the 
extremity he was driven to, than furnish him with 
the means of averting it: persuaded he should yet 
deceive the people with a show of resolution and 
intrepidity, he took leave of his three officers, telling 
them with an air full of confidence, “ that it should 
not be long so with him, and that he would quickly 
dissipate the clouds that now hung over him,” and 
immediately put on his armour. 

Thus equipped, he went up into the great hall of 
the capitol, and going forward into the balcony, from 
whence he used to make his harangues, after stretch¬ 
ing out his hands to the people, he begged the favour 
of being heard one moment, flattering himself that 
his persuasive eloquence would once more gain the 
ascendancy over them, and calm the tempest. He 
had doubtless succeeded,, if the heads of the conspi- 


OF GABRINI. 


277 


racy, who knew the influence of his artful speeches, 
had not at that critical moment redoubled their cla¬ 
mours and their imprecations, which prevented his 
address, and reanimated the rage of the people, who 
made use of the arms they had provided, and threw a 
shower of stones and arrows into the balcony, one of 
which wounded the senator in the hand. 

He was no ways dismayed at this violent outrage ; 
wounded as he was, he took up the standard of the 
people, displayed it from the balcony, and showed the 
letters of gold and the arms of Rome to the muti¬ 
neers : he endeavoured by that affecting pageant, and 
by the fire which sparkled in his eyes, and in his 
action, to open a way into their hearts ; but he irri¬ 
tated them the more by that sight: they justly 
reproached him for not freeing them from the tyranny 
of the grandees, and oppressing them in his own 
administration with one infinitely worse. He made 
another effort to be heard : “ Why,” said he, raising 
his voice, “ do you deny a favour never denied the 
greatest criminals ? Am I not your fellow-citizen ? 
Am I not one of the people as you are ? Why are 
you thus obstinately bent upon my ruin ? Romans, 
if you take away my life, you take away your 
own.” 

This speech, although accompanied with a beha¬ 
viour capable of exciting pity, and repeated with all 
the energy of the most eloquent man of the age, 
made no impression upon the enraged populace, who 


278 


THE CONSPIRACY 


were resolved to wash their hands in his blood. He 
received no other answer than fresh cries, “ Let the 
traitor perish,” with fresh insults. Despairing of 
prevailing with them, he went in again from the bal¬ 
cony, and gave the people time to relent. Rienzi at 
the same time could not think himself secure in the 
hall: a terror succeeded his intrepidity. He imagined 
that Bettrone, brother of the chevalier Montreal, 
could easily escape out of the neighbouring chamber 
where he kept him confined. He had taken notice, 
that his prisoner, whose windows overlooked the place, 
made signs to the rebels to animate them : he appre¬ 
hended that if in the tumult he found means to 
, escape, he would stab him in revenge for the death 
of his brother, and for the injuries he had himself 
received. This childish fear demonstrates the weak¬ 
ness of the greatest of men. Rienzi, rather than 
pass by the door of Bettrone’s prison, chose to drop 
from one of the hall windows, which he effected bv 
tying together a parcel of linen : he dropped upon a 
sort of platform before the prison, where many of his 
prisoners were observing his dexterity, and praying 
for his fall and their freedom. Rienzi more attentive 
to his own security than the railleries of those unfor¬ 
tunate men, immediately laid hold of the keys of the 
prison, and set his mind at rest in regard to his ene¬ 
mies within, that he might think of nothing but 
securing himself, if possible, from those without. 

Although the mutineers had set fire to the gates 


OF GABRINI. 


279 


of the capitol, he had no reason to despair. That 
very fire quickly procured him a new rampart, by 
causing a bridge of communication to fall down, over 
which they must pass to come to the inner place he 
was retired to. The day was far advanced, and the 
people, who are soon tired of bold enterprises, unless 
immediately executed, and ready always to pass from 
severity to compassion, had abandoned their party, 
and left the senator time to recover himself. Dis¬ 
cord and confusion usually take place among a pro¬ 
miscuous mob: while they turned their arms from 
him against each other, Rienzi, as raising again bis 
spirits, would have had an opportunity, either of 
saving himself from the hands of his enemies, or ren¬ 
dered himself master of the field of battle, at least 
have remained a quiet spectator of their outrages. 
But he had in his company a traitor, whom he 
no ways mistrusted, and by whom he was betrayed. 
This wretch was a kinsman of Rienzi’s, named Loe- 
ciolo Pelliccioro. He remained in the upper hall 
from whence he played a double trick: sometimes 
advancing himself in the balcony he gave the muti¬ 
neers advice of all that passed in the palace, and by 
his looks and gestures let them understand the 
distress of Rienzi, the place he was in, and where 
they must make their attack. Sometimes returned 
from the window, from whence he pretended to inform 
the senator of all that passed without doors, he 


f 


280 


THE CONSPIRACY 


began with encouraging him to play his part better ; 
afterwards taking the advantage of his natural timi-. 
dity, he gave him accounts and descriptions capable 
of throwing a man of more intrepidity into despair. 

Rienzi, unfortunately abused by the perfidy of this 
traitor, abandoned himself to his ill fortune and to 
his fears which already presented themselves to 
him; the outworks of the capitol destroyed by 
flames ; the Romans in arms before the place ; in a 
word, a general confusion to which he was inevitably 
going to fall a victim. Sometimes he took off his 
headpiece, and seemed preparing to take off the rest 
of his armour, in order to find out some stratagem 
to shelter himself from the fury of his enemies: in 
a moment afterwards he put it on again, and by a 
fierce countenance appeared determined to sell his 
life at a high rate, and die at least like a man of 
courage sword in hand, with all the marks of his 
dignity. He continued a long time combating with 
these two thoughts, without daring to resolve him¬ 
self, and determine between honour and the love 
of life; while his treacherous kinsman, pretending 
to encourage, but in fact intimidated him by affected 
grief and tears, laughed in his sleeve at his disorder. 
At length the danger appeared more imminent; 
already the second gate was all in flames; they heard 
the cracks of the beams on fire, and the burning 
planks which fell into the middle of the flames. 


OF GABRINI. 


281 


The pretended fears of Locciolo made Rienzi believe 
that all was lost, and that he was that moment going 
to perish. 

The senator resolved at any rate to make his 
escape from the capitol, imagined that in running 
over the ruins the thickness of the smoke would 
favour his retreat; that after he had got without the 
walls he could easily mix himself with the crowd by 
the help of the disguise he had contrived. Upon 
this imagination he pulled off his armour, shaved 
himself, daubed his face with charcoal, put on a great 
coat which he found at his porter’s lodge, covered 
his head and shoulders with a quilt and bed-covering, 
to make the mob believe he came to plunder; and 
advanced to the nearest gate, which was then on 
fire, leaving his fate to fortune, who had delivered 
him from a thousand dangers. Hitherto he had 
passed luckily by the favour of the ruins, and having 
descended the steps which lead to the second gate, 
he passed without receiving any damage from the 
fire, except a few bruises by the ruins which fell 
from all parts ; every thing seemed to concur to his 
escape: mixing himself with those mutineers who 
were nearest, he advanced without being known, and 
altering his voice, he cried out as he passed, “ Fall, 
fall upon the traitor; plunder my friends, it is 
right.” He had now the last steps only to overcome 
and he was safe. All the attention of the people 
was fixed upon the windows of the capitol at which 


282 


THE CONSPIRACY 


he had appeared ; and from the seeming 1 impossibility 
of his making way through the ruins and rubbish, 
they were far from suspecting a retreat so bold and 
singular. 

But either by chance or by his kinsman s treach¬ 
ery, a man having perceived Rienzi upon the steps, 
after looking very earnestly at him, took him by the 
arms, and held him fast. Unfortunately for the 
senator, the golden bracelets he used to wear upon 
his arms, and which he had imprudently neglected or 
forgot to take off, betrayed him in spite of his dis¬ 
guise : the people gathered together about him, and 
he was known. Losing at that time all hope, he 
lost entirely that presence of mind so requisite in 
extremities, and which till now had never totally 
forsaken him. He doubtless expected that in the heat 
and outrage of the conspirators, he should be cut to 
pieces on the spot; he was happily mistaken. The 
deep impression of respect for the old tribune, dis¬ 
figured as he was, suspended suddenly their fury. 

The ringleaders of the insurrection becoming thus 
appeased, took the senator by the arms, and made 
him go down without any molestation to the Lion’s 
Steps, where he had pronounced so many sentences 
of death. There he was exposed to public show ; 
posterity will scarce believe (what is however true), 
that he remained in that situation almost the space 
of an hour, bareheaded ; his face blacked in a fright¬ 
ful manner; his arms across; covered with a pea- 


OF GABRINI. 


283 


sant’s cloak, under which appeared a green silk 
waistcoat girt with a g'olden belt: a strange contrast, 
and capable of augmenting contempt and r§ige; yet 
not a mutineer lifted up a hand against him, or so 
much as insulted him with words. It is amazing 
that Rienzi, who had so often triumphed by his fine 
speeches, stood at this time speechless, and had 
neither power nor courage to open his lips in his 
own defence. He spoke only with his eyes, which 
he turned from right to left to see if any motion was 
making in his favour. The people on their side 
were equally as dumb and motionless, not daring to 
accuse or acquit him. 

A considerable time was already spent in this 
strange perplexity; and the senator between life 
and death was waiting the fate which heaven should 
ordain for him, when one of the principal conspira¬ 
tors, named Cecco de lo Vecchio suddenly broke 
the charm and enchantment which the sight of their 
tribune’s humble deportment had set upon the people 
in general. He imagined, that if he suffered the 
fury of the populace to abate much longer, Rienzi 
would not only escape, but punish those who had 
spared him. On a sudden he drew' his sw^ord, and 
without staying for the consent of the rest of the 
conspirators, he run him through the body. This 
first stroke was a signal that the charm was broken. 
The wrath of the populace, upon the point of extin¬ 
guishing, rekindled in a moment in all their hearts : 


284 


THE CONSPIRACY 


the sight of the vanquished tyrant tilled their vile 
souls with more base and mean vengeance than ever. 
All their respect for the senator was lost as he was. 
The notary Treio gave him a great cut across the 
head with his sabre; he was stabbed afterwards in 
several places, and every man strove to outvie each 
other in insulting an enemy, who was now no more 
sensible of their barbarity. Rienzi died by the first 
stroke, without speaking one word, or making the 
least groan. The mob, not satisfied with washing 
themselves in his blood, dragged his disfigured corpse 
by the feet through the streets, from the capitol to 
St. Mark’s, with loud huzzas. His head and arms 
they stuck upon the roads ; his shapeless body they 
hung by the feet on a stake before the palace of the 
Colonnas, whom he had so constantly persecuted: 
it remained above two days exposed to the insolence 
of the dregs of the people, until Jugurtha and Scia- 
retta Colonna, who returned to Rome upon the first 
news of his death, ordered it to be carried to the 
Jews’ quarter, with whom they left it. 

By the animosity shewn by the Jews upon this 
occasion, it seems as if Rienzi did not greatly affect 
them during either of his administrations. All 
without exception ran to the place where they had 
thrown him. They resolved to burn him with a 
small fire, and upon a heap of dry thistles, to demon¬ 
strate by this barbarous treatment of the dead body, 
in what manner they would have him used had he 


OF GABRINI. 


285 


fallen into their hands alive. As he was grown exces¬ 
sively fat, his flesh gave fresh strength to the flame, 
which those wretches kept burning slow, that they 
might feed the longer time their eyes with the horrid 
spectacle. They actually stayed as long as any of his 
bones remained, that they might he assured he was 
entirely consumed. 

Such was the end of Nicholas Rienzi, one of the 
most renowned men of his age: who, after forming a 
conspiracy full of extravagance, and executing it in 
the sight almost of the whole world, with such suc¬ 
cess that he became sovereign of Rome; after 
causing plenty, justice, and liberty to flourish among 
the Romans ; after protecting potentates and terri¬ 
fying sovereign princes; after being arbiter of 
crowned heads; after reestablishing the ancient 
majesty and power of the Roman republic, and filling 
all Europe with his fame during the seven months 
of his first reign ; after having compelled his masters 
themselves to confirm him in the authority he had 
usurped against their interests ; fell at length at the 
end of his second, which lasted not four months, a 
sacrifice to the nobility whose ruin he had vowed, 
and to those vast projects which his death prevented 
him from putting in execution. Had his judgment 
and conduct been answerable to his genius and elo¬ 
quence, Rienzi might have been set in competition 
with the greatest of monarchs. At some critical 
junctures he was a profound politician, at others weak 


286 


THE CONSPIRACY. 


and almost stupid. This inequality in talents, temper, 
and conduct was the cause of his rise, and the cause 
of his ruin. Like comets, these phantoms of 
sovereignty are no more than the plaything- of a 
day. After his death a steel mirror was found in 
his cabinet, in such characters and figures as con¬ 
firmed the populace in their opinion of his being a 
magician. It must be confessed that pope Clement, 
in his letter to-cardinal Bertram, his legate at Na¬ 
ples, informing him of the intrigues of Rienzi with 
Lewis of Bavaria, told him that of the two Germans 
the tribune sent to that emperor, one named Albert 
passed for a magician, and that he boasted he brought 
with him a devil shut up in a bottle; but the same 
pope in his other letters, wherein he omitted nothing 
that could render the tribune odious, imputes no 
sorcery or converse with magicians to him. He 
knew indeed that the artifice of Rienzi, the pro¬ 
phetical air he sometimes affected, his mystical em¬ 
blems, the force of his eloquence, and his superior 
talents in ruling their hearts, had given him the 
reputation of a magician among a set of people over 
whom credulity and ignorance prevailed. 

But what rendered Rienzi still more odious to the 
people was a tax-scheme found in his pocket-book: 
it was divided into five classes ; the first compre¬ 
hended one hundred persons, who were taxed five 
hundred florins a head ; the second contained another 
hundred, taxed four hundred florins; the third one 


OF GABRINI. 


287 


hundred ; the fourth fifty; and the fifth ten. Upon 
sight of this list, which discovered the oppressions 
designed by the senator, they rejoiced at their de¬ 
liverance. The riches he had heaped upon those 
who were attached to him, redoubled their hatred. 
The soldiers he had placed at Rome for the security 
of his person, had their goods, their arms, and their 
horses taken from them, and were driven away with 
ignominy. His palace was plundered, and every 
thing that belonged to him taken away. 

Pope Innocent, informed of this revolution, sent 
orders to cardinal d’Albornos, his legate at Rome, 
to reestablish tranquillity, by choosing a senator to 
rule within, and a general to command without. 
After this era, the authority which the popes re¬ 
covered in Italy by the exploits of d’Albornos, who 
had retaken most of the places taken from the terri¬ 
tories of the church, was highly instrumental in 
preserving the Romans dutiful, until the arrival of 
Urban V., who kept his see at Rome, the thirteenth 
year after the death of Rienzi. 

As to the memory of Rienzi, it became dear to 
the Romans in a very short time. Indignation and 
rage soon gave place to sentiments more humane 
and favourable. His death washed away the spots 
of his crimes and excesses : they remembered only 
his virtues and renowned actions. He was a long 
time regretted. The contemporary author, Forti- 
fiocca, from whom most of the circumstances of this 


288 


THE CONSPIRACY OF GABRINI 


history were taken, affirms that it was his head only 
that could restore to the Romans their happiness and 
their liberty. His name, many years after this bloody 
tragedy, was held in the highest esteem and venera¬ 
tion ; while the names of Locciolo Pellicciaro his 
betrayer, and Cecco de lo Vecchio his assassin, were 
detested. 


THE END 


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